Midnight Tribulations
by Splint
Summary: The Red X has always been the master of the night. But now he finds himself being hunted down by a strange and dangerous newcomer. Now Red X must figure out the mystery behind this game before time runs out for him and those closest to him. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The show Teen Titans isn't mine a neither are any of the characters featured in the show. They all belong to Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers. All the characters in this fic are fictional and if the names resemble anyone alive or dead then that is a coincidence.

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Jump City.

The city itself, being one of the country's fastest growing economies, was never considered to be asleep. It was always busy. The city had a very vibrant nightlife indeed with dozens of nightclubs and 24 hour bars located all over the many districts of the city. But not all places of the city are as lively as most might think.

Even in a city like this there places where the "dead of night" took hold. Places where the darkness was not pierced by any light. Places where sound was almost non-existent. Places where anything can exist within the shadows. It's the kind of places most parents would warn their children never to go to in those wee hours of the night, the kind of place where one's deepest fears seem to come to a life of their own.

It was in these places where _it_ felt most at home.

In some alley somewhere in the more decrepit part of the lower town, for the moment, it was hunch down behind an old dumpster that hasn't been used for over ten years. It was still, barely moving. It made no sound but the steady and soft intake and release of air with every deep breath. It was waiting for something. It came eventually.

A rather large rat scurried out from under a crack on the wall of the building it was under. It scurried into the middle of the alleyway where the faint light of the moon glistened in its dark gray fur. The rat moved about and sniffed at the ground, looking for scraps of anything that was remotely edible. It spotted a dead beetle somewhere among the weeds sprouting out of the moist soil in the alley. The rat went to it and started to have a midnight snack.

The rat sat in that spot chewing down the dead carcass of the beetle for what seemed like half-a-minute. It watched, hidden in the shadow of the dumpster and the building next to it. All the time, it watched the rat as it had its last meal. Then, in the flash of a second, the large arm wrapped in bandages shot out and grabbed the rat then pulled it up. The rat struggled in a useless attempt to free itself form the grip of its catcher. The rat squeaked loudly in fear.

It stared at the rat for a while. The arm then slowly pulled the rat into the darkness behind the dumpster. A crunching sound. The squeaking ceased.

It was a minor reward for a fruitless night. The creature knew that and didn't think any of it. It savored the small meal. The rodent wasn't too bad. That's why it liked to scare its prey first. Fear causes the muscles to tense and warms the flesh while also causes the release of several hormones and enzymes which sweetens the blood. Within seconds the rodent's body was completely devoured under the darkness. Slowly, the creature got up. It looked up at the dark, moon-lit sky.

He didn't show up tonight. Its prey did not show up that night. The creature didn't know if it was disappointment it felt or something else.

But it didn't matter. The nights in this city were long. It would have plenty of time to continue the hunt in nights to come. And when it does catch its prey, it would strangle it first, let the prey squirm in its grasp, in order to warm the meat and sweeten the blood. Its prey would meet a slow and agonizing death. Then, when the last heartbeat passed, it would feast.

It licked the last of the rat's remains from its palm, stretched its limbs out to get its own blood flowing through the veins again. The sun would be up in an hour or so. It left the shadows and dashed through the alley with a speed that would have been thought impossible for its size and mass. It travelled unseen and unheard across the dark places of the city.

When the sun rose, it was as if it never existed.

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Daytime in Jump City

The first two weeks of the new school year were as bright and sunny as they were boring and eventless. At least that was what Nicholas Davenport thought. Same faces, same halls, same classrooms, just one year later. After he got over the initial orientation periods that happened in the first couple of days, the monotony of school started all over again. He didn't really mind though. He fully expected this at the start of the year, every year before that, and every year to come. Well at least he had an eventful summer.

For the moment, school was over for him and Tara. They both decided to get a light snack and stopped by one of the fast food places one their way from school. They were standing in line together and were about to go next when Nick turned to her.

"So," he said to Tara , "what do you wanna have?"

"Just the usual," she replied. "A number 3 with a large soda."

"Again? Okay, have it your way."

She gave him a suspicious look. "Anything wrong with that, Nick."

"If you keep eating like that you might gain a little weight you know."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And what if I do? What of it, Nick?"

He smirked playfully back at her. "I might have to change the suspension on my bike. You know those things are expensive right?"

Tara lightly slapped the back of Nicks head and put on an annoyed expression. Nick simply chuckled inaudibly. At last their turn cam as the woman in front of them moved away with a tray full of whatever she ordered. Nick took one last glance back at the menu board to make sure he got the name of what he wanted. Nick stepped forward and was about to order when suddenly this rather irate man in a suit cut in front of him nearly knocking him back.

Nick had to step back in order not to fall down and luckily Tara also caught him. He looked up at the guy who cut in front of him with questioning eyes. He was tall, about six feet, large build, but not muscle-bound, greasy hair and the distinct smell of hairspray, the expensive kind. His cologne was heavy enough to make Nick gag.

"Excuse me!" exclaimed the man, though not to Nick but rather to the girl at the register.

"Y-Y-Yes sir?" stammered the girl at the register. By the look of her Nick assumed that she was in her mid-twenties.

"What do you call these?" exclaimed the man and he put forward something in his hand.

The girl looked, along with everybody in the immediate vicinity. "Umm, a large order of fries?"

"Soggy fires!" said the man. The girl cringed at the man's high volume. "Did you hear me order soggy fries when I was here? I don't think so. You expect me to eat this? What did you do, soak them in the sink? What kind of place is this that serves soggy fries?!"

"I'm sorry, sir. I-I-I'll get you some better fries."

"That's not what I want!" she cringed again at the loudness of his voice along with everybody around them. Except for Nick. He stood their listening to their conversation and he was getting annoyed at it. The man was one of those types that just let every little thing ruin their day. Nick could tell he probably had one heck of a day as is. This little mix up was probably the last straw for him this day.

"I want a refund!" demanded the irate man. "Not just for the fries, but for everything I ordered."

"But sir, you already ate over half of what you ordered. We can't refund you for that."

The looked like he was about to explode. The girl behind the counter looked scared and so did her co-workers. Behind the man, the rest of the waiting customers also looked nervous for the situation. Nick was the only one who looked like he did: annoyed and impatient. Behind him, Tara held onto Nick's shoulders and flashed him a look as if to ask what he was doing. Nick looked back at her with an expression that asked her to trust him.

The irate man spat out a few more profanities before rearing up his hand as if to slam it down at the table. His arm was grabbed before it could get any higher than above his face. The irate man looked back to see Nick grabbing his forearm.

"What? Who the hell are you?" demanded the man. "You want a piece of me?"

Nick was unaffected. His expression was flat and he spoke in a calm and cool voice. "Sir if you would please try and calm yourself down, it's a beautiful day and there's really no reason to go and make a scene here."

"Why don't you mind your own business, kid?"

"I'm making it my business sir. Me, and my girl here, are hungry you see. And chances are everyone behind us and next to us is the same way. You're only making things worse for the rest of us."

"Look here, buster! I'll have you know--"

Nick gripped the man's hand even harder. He could tell the man felt it. "Look here, sir. I'm sure the girl behind the counter is exhausted, she's stressed, and she's worked for who knows how many hours constantly dealing with assholes like you, and she probably thinks that we all hate her just as much as you do which is not true. So why you don't just give her, and everybody else, a break? Let her go back to her job, which I'm thinking is a lot more thankless that yours, and let us all get on with the rest of our day."

Nick's voice didn't falter one bit and neither did his expression. The irate man had nothing left to say. Nick released the man's arm and the man immediately rubbed it to sooth the unexpected pain. Nick had a strong grip after all. Nick continued to glare at the man with a neutral face and piercing eyes. By now, the irate customer couldn't deny his defeat but still decided to leave with the last word.

"This place blows!" he said as he rushed to the door, not bothering to go back and finish his meal. After the man left, everyone, except for Nick, seem to breath a mutual sigh of relief. One less thing to ruin their day, they supposed.

"Nice going," commented Tara. "So I guess your finally learning to try and deescalate a situation first rather than beating the crap out of someone?"

"People like him are just not worth the effort, that's all," said Nick.

Nick walked up to the counter and came face to face with the girl behind the counter who was smiling appreciatively. "Thank you," she said. "I don't what would've happened if you hadn't saved me back there."

"No problem. Now about our order…"

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A short time later.

"So what's your new car gonna be like?" asked Tara.

Both of them were sitting at a table near the window, enjoying their meals. Nick had a modest meal, the cheapest one in the menu actually, comprising of nothing more than the restaurant's basic burger, a small packet of fries, and a regular sized soda. A meal like this was enough to satisfy his hunger for the next few hours. Tara's meal, in great contrast, comprised of a large double-burger with all the toppings available, a large serving of fries, a large drink, and a chocolate sundae for desert.

If there was anything that intrigued Nick about Tara, it was definitely her above-average appetite. Whenever they would eat out she would always order one of the heaviest things on the menu much to Nick's chagrin since it almost always used up the remainder of his allowance for those days. More curious to Nick was the question of where all that food was going. Despite her appetite, Tara has yet to show signs of any sort of weight gain. While he found this unusual, Nick was the last person to complain about it, as well as tell it to her face.

"Firstly, it's not strictly _my_ car," he replied. "My mom will be the one to mostly use it. And also I don't know what she'll pick."

"I know it's not your car, so to speak. But she did say she'll let you use it, right?"

"Yeah, she did. But I'm mostly fine with my bike anyway. What, you don't like riding with me anymore?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just asking why you guys want to replace your old BMW M3. I personally liked that M3 of yours."

"Well, me too, I guess but it was mostly my mom's descission to get a new car."

"Why?"

"She said that the M3 was a little impractical. Fuel economy is not that good, engine's getting old, and she said that the steering is too heavy for her. But I doubt she's telling the truth on that last one considering she's a master martial artist who can bench-press 90 lbs."

"Oh. So you think she's doing it for a different reason?"

"I know so."

"What do you think is that reason?"

Nick didn't answer right away. He took a long sip of his soda and let out a sigh. "I think it's because…that car had some memories to it."

"…huh?"

"Did you know that this was the first car they bought together?"

"They?...Oh! you mean…her and your dad?"

"Yup."

It was Tara's turn to be a little silent as she took a bit out of her meal and chewed that bite for a longer time than usual. "Guess she's still getting over it huh…your dad passing and all…"

Nick flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Mom's a strong woman. This is just her way of finally putting away the past. As for me…"

"You crossed that road long ago huh?"

Nick smiled a bit more. "You'd know about that wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I would."

She smiled back at him enjoying the slight humor that only they could understand and share. "You've really changed you know, Nick?"

"Is that so. How would you say I've changed?"

"You mostly look ahead now. Unlike back then. Even before your father died, you were always a little bit obsessed with the past. Remember that one story you told me when you met this kid back in grade school and you picked a fight with him because of something bad he did to you three years earlier."

"Yeah…I don't even remember what he did to me anymore. I think he stole some homework of mine or something."

"Yeah…you were always the one to carry a grudge back then. But now…you don't seem as srazy about past events as ususal."

"I guess I learned something important…though I'm not really sure what it is."

"It's not important whether you know what it is. As long as you learned it, right?"

"…Right."

They both shared mutual smiles for a while.

"Well, enough of that sentimental stuff. Whatever your mom does, I'm sure it's for the best. Still, I'm curious what she'll get. I don't really know her taste in cars."

"Me neither. But I do know that whatever she get's she'll use the money from selling the M3. She got a pretty good offer from this collector who's willing to pay more than what we used to buy the thing in the first place."

"You think she'll replace it with something just like it?"

"Not sure. She did say she'll get something more…practical."

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Later that afternoon.

"Mom," said Nick, "when you said you were gonna get something more practical, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

After dropping off Tara at her place, Nick went straight home to the Skyline Tower Apartments in uptown. By the time he was headed home the sun was already setting. It was there that he managed to meet his mom, Tomoyo, outside in the outdoor parking lot standing by a car. Their new car apparently. It was by coincidence that she was just headed back from the dealer and that she arrived outside the towers about five minutes before Nick himself arrived.

"Aww, C'mon Nicky, this _is_ more practical," said Tomoyo to her son. "At least compared to our old car."

"Somehow I doubt that. At least our old car was a four-seater."

"What, you don't like this?"

"No, it's not that. But…"

Nick was at a slight loss for words. Looking at the car his mother bought for them, he knew he was expecting something else other than this. Still, the car was not really something he would not like. It was a two-seat roadster with a foldable soft top, front-mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, six-speed transmission, compact sports car colored in a nice metallic white. Being who he was, Nick actually had a taste for performance cars and he wasn't really complaining about this. It was simply that, from what his mom told him about what she would get, a Honda S2000 was a little outside of his expectations.

"Why not? This looks cool right?"

"Well, I guess I kinda expected you'd get something like this, mom," he said. "But when you said more _practical_, I was thinking more along the lines of a sedan or something. And if you were gonna get something sporty, at least an Impreza or even a Lancer Evo would be more _practical _than this."

Tomoyo gave him a slightly confused look. "Hmmm? Well I don't know anything about what you just said. But I was actually thinking about you when I bought this, Nicky."

"How so?"

She flashed a wry smile. "Don't you think it's more practical for you to pick up Tara in this than in your bike? Heaven knows you'd look better in front of her."

His face turned slightly redder. "Mom, please!"

Tomoyo had a hearty chuckle at her son's expense. Nick decided he had enough surprises for the day. "Well if you'll excuse me, I'll just go and get my homework done and call it a day."

"Sure! And if you'll excuse me I think I'll take this baby for a night out on the town!"

Tomoyo eagerly hopped in the new Honda, inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. Nothing happened. This caused some confusion in Tomoyo.

"You have to push the start button," said Nick.

"Oh! Right…" Tomoyo did as she was instructed and the engine sparked to life. She stepped on the gas pedal and drove the roadster out into the road with a screeching start.

Nick inwardly hoped that she would not ruin the thing on the first night driving. At the same time he hoped the car was insured. As he watched the car drive away he pondered on what his mom said. He would look rather cool when he picked up Tara in that thing. He shook the thought out of his head, got back on his bike and rode to the underground parking lot of the apartment building.

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Inside their apartment.

Nick tossed his schoolbag haphazardly to one corner of the space and headed straight for the couch. He grabbed the remote control from the table and turned on the TV. He turned it on to an old movie, something he had already watched and wasn't interested. He changed channels and got an old cartoon from the seventies. He had not taste for that either. He turned to a game show and he didn't even stay for more than a second. He turned to a action series which kept his interest for a few minutes before he realized it was a encore episode which he had already seen.

So lastly, he turned to the news which was currently reporting sports. The Jump City Sharks have lost a chance at the cup again. Oh well, better luck next year. Nick decided to get up from the couch and moved to the kitchen and made himself dinner. He took a few minutes to cook it all the while the news on the TV reported something on the Teen Titans capturing another supervillain wannabe and then escorting said wannabe to jail.

In the back of his mind, Nick was actually wondering where all the great bad gauys have gone. After that thing with the Brotherhood of Evil and the deal in Tokyo, the Titans have been more or less on vacation. He even thought he might have a go at them, again but then thought better of it.

After putting his dinner on a plate and grabbing a soda from the fridge, Nick retreated back to the couch and continued watching the news as the anchorman delivered a new story.

"And now, news from the business world," said the anchorman. "Today marked another bad day for the employment department as the western branch on the giant pharmaceutical company, Parasol, has announced earlier this day that it would let go of over 4000 of its employees. As expected, the working force was not to pleased with this. Our correspondent on the field, Sherry Graham. Sherry, what's the situation out there?"

The image on the TV switched to a scene of a young newswoman standing in front of a crowd of very irritated people with picket signs. She was holding a mic bearing the news network's name and logo.

"David," she began, "the scene here is one anger. As you can see behind me hundreds of Parasol employees have gathered in outside of Parasol's main facility in Jump City, and the west coast, protesting the announcement that would mean the layoff of over 4000 jobs at factories, not just in this city but all over the west coast. This is a very serious situation considering that the layoffs would also drop the employment rate of the city a whole 18. That's a big number, David, considering how our economy has boomed in the past few years. Back to you, David."

The scene switched back to the anchorman "Thank you, Sherry. In a related story, Parasol's Annette Ashford, manager of the Jump City branch and CEO of the company, called a press conference earlier today out of the public questioning the layoffs. It went as follows."

The scene switched to a conference hall somewhere probably in the Parasol building itself. On the stage, standing tall, was a fine-looking, middle-aged woman of a high society background. She wore a neat business suit that was a bright red color. Her long black hair was tied in a straight ponytail. Her stoic expression reflected nothing but absolute professionalism.

One look at her and Nick thought she might have had a cactus stuck up her hind quarters.

She stood behind a podium made of dark stained glass. The front of the podium bared the company's logo which reflected its namesake. The logo resembled the shape of an parasol standing on its stem where the stem itself plus the right half of the was dawn to look like a stylized letter "P" colored in white while the left half stayed true to a parasol look and was colored gray. The drawing was encased in a black square with curved edges and right under the square was the name "Parasol" printed in bold black letters.

The scene had started while already in the middle of the conference.

"Miss Ashford," started one of the reporters in the room, "Can you give us one solid reason why the high number of layoffs?"

The woman stayed calm and her expression neutral. "Firstly, I'd like you all to understand that whatever we do is in the best interest of the company. This event was not something decided haphazardly. There were plenty of factors that allowed us to come to the conclusion that this was the best action to take."

"Can you expound on these factors?"

"Cost-Benefit analysis for one thing. The management has felt that the company has in fact had too much employees. A lot more than we really needed and that it was costing us significant revenue."

Another reporter rose up. "How can you say this when your market actually rose by a total of 10 points in the last two months prior to the firings? Wouldn't that have allowed you to have a greater net income despite the size of your workforce?"

"Oh, you're forgetting quite a few things. It's not just employment costs. We also had the R&D funds to think about."

"R&D into what?"

"New product lines that we hope to have released to the public after about five or six months. As to what these products are, I'm afraid I cannot indulge on specific details. You'll just have to wait when the products themselves are released before we--"

She stopped in the middle of her as if noticing something on her waist area. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and produced a very thin cell phone which was vibrating. She read the text message she recived in less than two seconds but it was also in that two seconds where the woman's expression changed from stoic to curious to comprehension, then back to stoic again. No one seemed to noticed. Nick did.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," said Annette Ashford, "I have some pressing matters to attend to. This conference is over."

She started off the stage and the myriad of reporters in the room started standing up in unison and called out to her with more questions. They were all largely ignored and the woman disappeared stage left. Nick thought, as he watched, that there was something odd about the whole affair but he didn't bother analyzing it. The news switched back to the anchorman.

"Well, that's all the time we have for tonight," said the anchorman, "This is David Garrison reporting for the six-o-clock news. Goodnight."

The news ended. Nick grabbed the remote and began browsing through other channels again. It was seven in the evening now and he had nothing better to do anymore. As he flipped through the channels all the shows he saw didn't catch his interest at all. Before he knew it, he had finished his dinner and browsed through all of the channels twice. Finally ending up in the same channel he started with (that old movie which was close to ending by then) Nick dropped the remote onto the couch and let out a defeated sigh.

Bored out of his mind, he decided to get up, grab his dishes, and went to the kitchen to clean them. As he washed the plate he used to eat his dinner on, Nick contemplated on just going to bed when a thought crossed his mind that caused his lips to curve ever so slightly upwards. He then looked towards his bedroom door which was visible from the kitchen.

Why not, he thought to himself. It could be fun. A night out on the town would be nice. For a second he thought against it but he found himself going back to that thought over again. It's not like you're gonna steal anything tonight, he told himself. No good enough targets to pick out yet. Just go out and stretch you legs. The curve on his lips grew to a rather big grin. He turned to the clock. 7:15 pm. Knowing his mom, she probably wouldn't be back till half-past ten.

An hour or two outside would be a nice change of pace. It's been a while since he put on the suit anyway. By then, Nick had already decided. He finished up cleaning his dishes and put them away. After washing his hands, he made a bee line for his room. He went to his bed and reached under to pull out a duffel bag. He placed it on the bed and unzipped the bag.

He pulled out its contents and spread them on the bed for easy arrangement. All the pieces were remnants of a suit; boots, pants, shirt, all black as the night, plus a pair of gun-metal gray gloves. The last piece he took out was a mask. A mask depicting an ivory white skull with a slashed red 'x' across the face.

Nick smiled to himself. It was time for the Red X to rule the night once again.

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Like I said before. All those copyrighted characters ain't mine.

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Nighttime in Jump City.

The night was young and so was he. Amidst the urban jungle that was Jump City, the Red X flew across the cityscape with skill, precision, and an almost poetic grace that only came with true talent and experience. With each leap, swing, and freefall the Red X reveled in the pure thrill of the moment that would render most other with a sense of dread. It was this thrill he sought for every time he put on the suit and powered up the xenothium generator. And every time, the thrill came back as exhilarating as ever. A natural high that was beyond compare.

While in the middle of a freefall, Red X shot out a grappling able from his arm which hooked him to the edge of the tallest building from across the street. He reeled himself up and when he reached the top he flipped over the edge and landed rather gracefully on the roof. He turned to scope the entire cityscape in one glance. A breathtaking sight as always. But Red X's interest in this waned quickly as he got the urge to jump off again.

He did so, leaping off from the edge of the building and diving towards the street. The pavement came at him at over seventy miles per hour. Two-thirds of the way down, Red X shot his grappling cable again out of his gauntlet and swung from a nearby building. He released the grappling line and the master thief flew over the streets, grabbing a few glances of awe from below.

Eventually, he shot out another grappling line from his gauntlet and hooked himself on another building on the street and reeled himself up onto its roof. There he took a breather and relaxed a bit though his blood still rushed in his veins. The suit's automatic temperature regulation function kept the wearer cool enough through all this activity. Red X stepped towards the edge and scanned his surroundings.

He was somewhere on the south side of the city particularly near the bay. From where he stood he could already see the waterfront. A series of bright lights caught his eye and he turned his sights towards its source. It was a nightclub converted from an old warehouse. He had heard of this before, popular spot for most partygoers in the city. Even from that distance he could hear some of the music from the club. With a whim, he decided to check it out. Red X reached down to his belt and pressed a button on the buckle. A moment later, he disappeared completely.

Half-a-minute later he appeared on the roof of the club without anyone noticing. Even outside, the music was loud enough for Red X to hear clearly. Through his feet he could feel the heavy bass beats as it pulsed through the whole building. Most of the roof was actually glass so it allowed him to peer inside the club from a bird's eye view. The glass part of the roof was the same size and directly above the dance floor were several young-looking people dancing to the beat being played by the DJ at the tables. The light show wasn't bad either with multi-colored lights pulsing to the beat as they were accompanied by a myriad of laser light just to add to the atmosphere. All the people from below were too distracted by their own movements and the lights to notice the masked thief watching them from above. Everyone else who was not dancing was chilling at the bar or at the tables, drinking and socializing.

Red X found himself unconsciously tapping his foot and slightly bobbing his head to the beat. This place was really happenin' he thought. He would've loved to take Tara here sometime. Too bad they were both underage at the moment.

A ruckus up front caught Red X's attention. He turned away from the glass roof and went towards the front of the building overlooking the entrance to the club. The usual stuff was there: read carpet, velvet line, a heavy-build bouncer tossing out an unwanted patron, oh wait that's new. The bouncer effortlessly dragged some guy out of the door who was complaining all the way to the pavement. Something about the drinks. A flash of realization later and Red X, or at least Nick, recognized the guy.

"Well, well, well," said Red X, "if it isn't Mr. Attitude from earlier. Never learns does he?"

Down below, the irate man was once again arguing himself into a bind. "You call this service?! You've got like three bartenders in there and not one of them would give me the time of day! Then when they do pay attention they can't remember my order and thy give some crap I don't want then they charge me for it!"

"Well sir," said the bouncer in a tough tone, "if you hadn't been screaming at them from the start maybe they would've been nicer to you. Plus you were mothering the other patrons, sir."

"Like hell I was! The music so loud in there you couldn't hear a nuke blow up!"

"And yet everyone heard you just fine. Please leave."

"You think you can treat me like this?!"

"I can and I am. Leave."

The bouncer turned his back to the irate man who continued mouthing himself off. From the roof, Red X had an idea that put a grin to his mouth underneath his mask. He raised his hand and released a small amount of xenothium generated material, used to make most of his weapons, and molded into little pellet. When the pellet was good and hard he looked back down. The bouncer had his back towards the man and was doing his best to ignore him. The man was still as loud as a freight ship's horn.

Using his expert throwing abilities, Red X tossed the small red pellet and hit the bouncer right at the back of his head. The bouncer felt something alright but when he turned around with a face of pure anger, he was assuming it was something else. He looked at the irate man dead in the eyes while his own was burning with rage.

"What?" said the man.

The bouncer's only answer was a fist to the face at mach speed. Something the irate man would most definitely feel in the morning.

On the roof, Red X was forcing himself not to laugh so hard that he might be discovered. Back down below, the man was picking himself up from the pavement and rubbing his almost broken nose. By then the bouncer had decided to turn his back on the man again for the last time and went to take his position back in front of the door. The man with the almost broken nose was fuming.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed. "You think you can do this to me?! I'll get you for this you muscle-bound son of a…!"

Seeing that he was being completely ignored by the bouncer, the man decided to simply leave. On his way he accidentally bumped shoulders with a young couple. "Watch it!" he yelled at them. The couple, though annoyed decided that e wasn't worth the attention he was asking for.

From above, Red X shot another red pellet which hit the girl square on the butt cheek just as the irate man passed them. The girl yelped and placed both palms on her behind.

"What's wrong?" asked her boyfriend.

"I think he pinched me!" said the girl.

The boyfriend, now moderately pissed, turned around, caught up with the man, and tapped the man on the shoulder. The irate man, also a bit pissed himself, turned around. "What is it now?"

The boyfriend's fist flew straight at the man's nose breaking it completely this time. As the man fell flat on the pavement, Red X nearly cracked up on the roof. Meanwhile below, deciding not to risk any other part of his face, the irate man simply got up and ran to his car on the parking next to the club.

On the roof, Red X just kept laughing his head off.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere close by.

The night was just beginning. It knew that. It crept through the dark places of the city with all the sound of a shadow. Throughout all its movements it remained unseen, unheard, like it never even existed. It moved swiftly, with unnatural speed. But that was to be somewhat expected since there was nothing _natural_ about this creature.

It leapt from one building to the next with unerring ease. It strong, powerful leg muscles allowed it to dash from one end of the block to the other faster than most normal people could blink their eyes. It climbed up atop on of the nearby buildings and perched itself under the shadow of a water tank. There it stayed hidden while searched its surroundings with its unusual eyes. It could sense it. It had the feeling in its gut. The prey was near. The prey was very near.

The creature's enhanced sight pierced the darkness of the night like a hunter's arrow on a carcass. It searched with its eyes until it found something in the distance. A flash of a cape and the unmistakable color of red on the person's masked head and chest. The prey has been spotted. Finally, the hunt can truly begin.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

At a nearby rooftop.

Red X was shaking off his last laughs, still recalling the incident at the club only minutes ago. Tonight turned out to be slightly more entertaining than he first thought. After getting out the last giggle out of his system he looked around to make sure where he was. He was on the rooftop of a large printing press used by some local magazines and tabloids. Walking to the edge and looking down at the street, he spotted a lamppost that had a clock built into it. The time read just a few minutes past nine.

Red X contemplated on continuing his little tour of the city which he practically knew like the back of his hand or just call t a night an go home. He also briefly considered going after some priceless treasure on display somewhere but there wasn't anything in particular he wanted to go and steal.

Since nothing in the city was worth targeting for the moment, Red X simply decided to go home. He still had that science homework to deal with. Red X started walking towards one end of the press building where he could climb up to the building next door then swing himself out.

In the middle of his step, Red X stopped and suddenly turned around. He saw nothing on the rooftop. He blinked. Still nothing. There was nothing to be worried about it seemed. Just a bunch of ventilation shafts, machinery and the building's glass sunroofs. But where did that feeling come from? Red X turned his body comply around and stared long and hard into the shadowed places of the roof top. He found just what he expected to find: nothing. That feeling still, could it be just a cold breeze or something? He didn't dwell long enough on those thoughts.

Red X turned around and started walking towards the other end of the roof only to stop three seconds later. His heart was beating faster for some reason. He didn't turn around immediately like last time knowing full well that there was nothing to look at back there. But still there was something making him want to look back. Red X eventually did look back and again found nothing. He let out a sigh. Since when the heck was so paranoid? He didn't know and didn't care to know. Resigned, Red X turned his head back forward.

He did so only to find someone—something—was standing no more than three feet in front of him. Red X's heart skipped a beat then he looked up. He found himself staring at a gruesome face that was about three feet above his own face. A gruesome face baring inhuman teeth.

Before Red X could even think about moving away, the creature's hand suddenly, and powerfully, shoved the masked thief into one of the ventilation chimneys with enough force to actually break it apart. Red X sprawled on the cemented roof like a rag doll. The creature was on the moved again in a flash, jumping up into the air and heading down straight onto Red X's body.

Red X looked up just in time and rolled to the side, narrowly missing getting crushed by the creature's massive feet which cracked the concrete roof. But as Red X was trying to get back up to his feet, The creature swung an arm out and managed to slap Red X with enough force to send him crashing into another of the vents on the roof. The impact dented the vent but wasn't enough to knock out the master thief. However, by the time he looked back up, The creature was already charging towards him with its huge fist.

Red X had barely enough time to duck out of the way and save his skull from being crushed. The fist ended up wrecking the top side of the vent only. Red X quickly retaliated from the previous attack by throwing his own fist at the creature's face. The punch went straight and true but did little other than to make the assailant staggered back a few inches. The creature counterattacked by bringing its other hand up and swinging it down like a hammer on Red X.

The master thief did not stick around to be crushed though and he quickly jumped to the side while the rest of the vent he was leaning against was crushed beyond recognition. Red X rolled and then flipped a few times to bring as much distance from the creature as he can afford before it came at him again. Red X landed facing the creature, now a good ten yards away, then quickly formed explosive x-shaped projectiles from both hands and quickly threw them with expert aim towards the creature.

The x-bombs exploded on impact but when the smoke cleared the creature was still standing, barely fazed by the attack of its prey.

"What the hell are you?!" Red X managed to murmur in awe.

The creature did not answer. Instead, it bolted at Red X with unnatural speed and tackled him with its jaw wide open as if it was attempting to take a bite out of him. However, the creature must have miscalculated its speed as they both went too far and crashed into and right through the glass sunroof and straight into the interior of the empty building.

As the were falling down the whole Three stories down to the floor, Red X realized that they were heading straight into one of the huge printers. With the proper weight distribution, Red X managed to turn himself and the creature so that the creature was the one who would hit something first while Red X braced himself staying on top of his assailant. The two violently crashed into the printer and the whole thing exploded into hundreds of pieces.

Amidst all the chaos, Red X managed to roll onto the floor of the building. He groaned as he tried to get back up to his feet. "Man…" he grumbled, "that was one hell of a ride…"

Red X looked around to find the place empty. It was night and the place was probably closed for the day. Workers were nowhere to be found. He waited for a few moments and heard only silence.

Red X was just brushing himself off when suddenly an explosion of mechanical parts caught his attention and he swung his entire body towards it. From out of the wrecked machinery, the creature burst out and stood in the middle of the floor facing Red X. Only now was the master thief able to see his assailant it its full form.

The creature was humanoid, but at the same time there was nothing that could describe it "human" in its current form. To the casual eye, the creature simply looked like a huge man but upon closer inspection if this creature was ever a man to begin with it certainly isn't one now.

The creature was at least eight feet tall. It's only article of clothing were some very baggy cargo pants that covered its legs leaving its feet bare. From the waist up, the only thing that covered its very muscular torso were several old cotton bandages that were haphazardly wrapped and tied around its body which have all turned a dark gray shade from dirtiness. Its skin was the color and tone of black shoe leather. Its fingernails were shaped into sharp claws. Its face was nothing one would expect to find on a normal person.

Its bright yellow, animal-like teeth were almost always bared due to a lack of any discernable lips. It didn't have a nose, instead its two nostrils looked like deep cuts on the surface of his face. The same could be said for its ears which were nothing but slits on the side of its head. Its eyes were two large bright red orbs with white irises and dark black pupils. Whatever was growing from the top of its head and down to its upper back was not so much as hair but more like scales just like that of a crocodile. The only other note-worthy thing about the creature was that around its left wrist was some kind of tag.

Definitely not a local resident, thought Red X.

The creature charged at him again. Re x thought quickly and through another projectile he materialized in his hand. It was a sticky-x than instantly stuck to the creature's face like duct tape, covering the creature's eyes. The creature was forced to stop in its step, bring a hand up, and violently rip off the sticky-x from its face. Once its eyes were clear again it found that its prey had disappeared.

The creature gave its surroundings a once over with just its eyes first then when it found nothing it switched tactics. Its nostrils started twitching as air was rapidly inhaled it short bursts, like a predator sniffing the air. Chances are that was exactly what that thing was doing. A short moment passed and the creature seemed to have picked up something with its sense of smell. It narrowed its eyes and let out a soft growl through its clenched teeth.

The creature suddenly swung its whole body around and threw out an open hand all in the flash of a second. After doing a completely one-eighty the creature seemed to have grabbed something in mid-air. To any observer who might have witnessed the scene, it would've seemed like the creature's hand was empty and that it was holding nothing but air. However a moment later, the masked head of Red X suddenly materialized inside the creature's hand.

Red X struggled desperately to free himself from his assailants grasp. He tried to pry open the creature's fingers with his own hands finding that he didn't have the strength to do so. The grip around his skull was getting tighter and tighter. He was no longer able to breath as the creature's palm was pressing his face in. He had to do something.

Red X form an x-blade on one hand and quickly stabbed it deep into the creature's wrist that was holding on to him. The creature's grip was lost and red X dropped to the floor then flipped back to gain some distance between him and the creature. So, he thought, the cloaking device won't work. He can still sniff me out.

The creature held out its hand for it to see. Red X also observed from a distance. His eyes went wide when he witnessed the cut on the creature's hand quickly disappear. It was as if it was never damaged. Oh, crap, thought Red X to himself, Its got regenerative abilities as well. Just fan-freakin'-tastic. But now was not the time for complaining. He had to strike while the creature didn't have eyes on him.

Red X charged in, jumped up and delivered a strong spin kick to the jaw. It didn't break anything but the creature still stumbled back a bit. Red X continued his assault delivering a series of high powered kicks and jabs in rapid succession. His attacks drove the creature back a good distance and didn't leave room for attack but he still felt like he wasn't really doing anything really damaging Eventually, the creature struck back, during Red X's last kick it managed to grab onto Red X's leg, which caught the master thief by surprise, and forceful tossed him like a rag doll into the machinery.

Red X crashed right through the machinery which mostly crumpled under the impact and sent some debris flying into the air. Red X felt sore but the suit did its job and kept the wearer from serious injuries even after a crash lake that. As he was lying don on the wrecked printer Red X groaned away the pain in time to see the creature leap into the air and start to come down towards him while baring its claws. Thinking quickly Red X form an x-blade on each hand and stabbed them through the creature's palms as it came down on him and pinned him down.

The creature seemed to be ignoring the fact that both its palms were stabbed straight through with Red X's blades and continued to push down on its struggling prey. Red X was rapidly running out of breathing space and he didn't have the muscle to push back the creature. The creature's face inched ever closer to his own.

Then suddenly the creature opened its mouth a revealed all of its sharp teeth. The smell of its breath was rancid and red X had to fight the urge to throw up just after one sniff of it. From out of the darkness of the creatures mouth emerged an inhumanly long, dark-colored, forked tongue which reached out just enough to lick at Red X's face. Red X's eyes showed absolute disgust. The creature then started to try and take a bite out of the master thief, snapping its jaw just out of reach of his face then letting loose its tongue again.

Red X shot his knee up at the creature's stomach as hard as he could. The creature visibly reacted as drew its tongue back and Red X could feel it let him loose a bit. Red X continued to repeatedly shoot his knee up into the creature's stomach. It grunted in pain after every strike to its belly and as it went on it Red X could feel that he was getting the upper hand. At the critical point Red X shot his head up and head-butted the creature right in the eye.

The creature reeled back its head and most of its upper body from the pain. This gave Red X the opportunity he needed and he slipped both his feet from under the creature, bent them to his chest and kicked the creature off of him with as much force as he could muster. The creature went flying off back onto the floor.

Be fore the creature could recover itself, Red X looked around quickly to look for some thing to give him some space. He looked up and saw a network of metal walkways hanging from the roof. Probably for maintenance, he concluded. He threw his hand up and launched a grappling line that pulled him all the way up and onto the walkway. His boots made a loud clang as he landed.

Red X looked down below and was surprised that he could not spot his enemy so quickly. It was at that moment when he heard another loud clang and felt the whole of the walkway shake and nearly knocked him off-balance. He looked up to see the creature now on the same walkway as he was some twenty meters away.

The creature wasted no time in charging at Red X again, sending vibrations all over the metal walkway. Red X timed his evasion just right because he knew he was dead if he were to make a mistake. As the creature got closer, Red X made a charge himself at just when the moment was right, when the creature swung out its arm at the master thief, Red X jumped up and over the creature.

In mid-air, red X twisted his body so that he faced his opponent's back and threw out both his palms towards the creature and rapidly shot out a series of sparking x-shaped projectiles, x-tasers. The x's struck the creature on its back and sent it a massive jolt of electricity. Meanwhile Red X flipped away to give himself some distance again though he felt that this advantage wouldn't last long. He looked up and saw the creature slowly turning to face him while the x-tasers still fed electricity that would by now render most normal people comatose. But the creature itself showed only a little amount of discomfort even though parts of its skin were already burning.

Red X was worried. He now knew that fighting was not an option anymore. He wasn't a coward, but even Red X knew when it was time to run.

Red X thrust a glowing gauntlet onto the walkway at his feet. For a moment the whole walkway in front of him pulsated with bright red xenothium energy. A second later, the walkway collapsed completely. The creature was caught off-guard by this and fell back down into the crumple machinery below.

Red X didn't waste this time and he immediately searched for some kind of escape route. Any kind. It didn't take long for him to spot what he needed. He jumped back down to the floor and made a dash for it. Meanwhile, just behind him, the creature had pulled itself out of the ruble and began to give chase as soon as it spotted its prey again. Red X didn't even look back. He concentrated on getting to the door, the one labeled "warehouse" on the far wall.

Upon reaching the door, Red X formed a special x-blade and inserted it into the keyhole. After studying how locks and lock picking in general, Nick started fiddling a bit with the xenothium-based material that was generated by the Red X suit to make his tools and weapons. Nick managed find a way where he could craft an x-blade while inside a keyhole to instantly pick the lock. After about a week of practice he mastered this new skill. Red X was now applying this to the door that lead into the warehouse.

Red X opened the door, rushed in, and slammed shut the door behind him. The creature reached the door about three seconds later. Unlike its prey, the creature didn't even bother with the lock or the knob and simply stampeded his way in, wrecking the door, the door frame, and most of the surrounding brick wall.

The creature took a moment to scout its surroundings. The warehouse was the building directly next door to the printing press and both buildings shared the wall it just busted through. The warehouse was held all the paper that was being used by the press. The paper was contained in huge rolls that were the size of small cars but about twice as heavy. Te rolls of paper were stacked to a height of three rolls per stack and the stacks themselves were spread out across the warehouse floor. On the ceiling was conveyor-like machine that was designed to carry the rolls one by one inside the printing press to be used. In the day, the conveyor would be moving but since the press is closed for the night, rolls to be used were hanging still by large metal claws above the floor.

The prey was nowhere in sight again. The creature switched tactics again and went on to follow is smell senses. The scent trail was easily obvious, strong and fresh. The prey was near. More importantly, it could tell just by the scent that the prey's blood was practically boiling now. This meal would be sweat and well worth savoring.

The creature began to move forward across the warehouse floor following its twitching nostrils. The creature moved through the stacks of paper as if it was navigating a maze. As it walked it kept its eyes peeled for its prey.

Eventually the creature stopped somewhere in the middle of the floor where the scent trail ended. The creature was confused for only a moment until it looked straight up. It found that it was directly underneath one of the large paper rolls that were hanging from the ceiling via the conveyor mechanism. And perched on the mechanism above the paper roll above the creature was Red X.

"Bite this," said Red X right before slapping a red glowing gauntlet to the machinery below him.

The red energy pulsed through the claw holding the paper roll and completely disintegrated it into is piece parts. All five-and-a-half tons of the paper roll dropped a whole two stories straight down onto the wide-eyed creature below it. The impact rocked the whole floor.

When the shockwaves from the crash subsided, Red X dropped down onto the floor and inspected what happened. Below the slightly deformed paper roll laid the motionless body of the creature on its back that was surrounded by a pool of dark rust-colored blood, its head and neck twisted at an impossible angle. Red X had to force his diner to remain in his stomach. Still he kept watch over the body for a while to make sure it didn't move. It didn't. Deciding that the ordeal was over, Red X let out an exhausted sigh and headed for the exit.

_crack_

"…no." Red X turned back around. He saw the creature's head move again. The head snapped back with a loud cracking sound into a proper angle. The creature turned its head back and looked directly into Red X's bewildered eyes. Red X looked at the creature's wide red eyes and felt his soul almost crumple. Those big red eyes felt like they were skewering him just by looking at him.

For the first time in a long while, Red X felt himself shake with fear.

The creature averted its sight to the large roll crushing it. It raised its hands and began clawing at the paper, ripping it away little by little. Meanwhile, something inside Red X snapped him back to reality now that the creature was no longer looking at him. He saw what was going on and instantly knew that he needed a plan quickly. He looked around for an option, anything he could use. At the far corner of the room he spotted something.

On one side of the room was a forklift. On the forklift was a wooden board carrying about four large barrels of something. Apparently that something was labeled to be "LUBRICANT." Probably for the printers, thought Red X. But what interested him most was the sticker that read: "Warning: Highly Flammable."

Red X was on the move quickly. He went to the fork lift and sat down at the driver's seat. He picked at the starter and quickly got the thing going. He worked the wheel and the pedals while being careful not to spill or drop any of the barrels. He was also taking care not to panic.

He drove the forklift and its cargo down to the where the creature was still pinned down. More and more of the paper roll was being ripped off and Red X knew he was running out of time. He drives the forklift so that the cargo was right on top of the creature which stopped its clawing for a moment to look. Red X then stepped out of the forklift, moved to the side of the barrels, and slapped the barrels with his hand. The creature stared on curiously. Red X removed his hand to reveal a blinking x-bomb. As Red X looked back at the creature, He once again noticed the tag on its wrist. In one quick motion, he ripped it off before the creature could swipe at him.

Red X gave the creature one final look and then presses the cloaking device on his belt. The creature could smell his prey disappearing from the scene. Then it settled on watching the blinking x-bomb on the barrel up until it finally detonated.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Outside.

On a nearby rooftop Red X watched as the resulting fire from the explosion engulfed the warehouse. With all that paper, he wasn't so surprised that the fire was spreading so quickly. He tried to tell himself that whatever that thing was it couldn't possibly survive something like this even if the fire department would get here as quick as they could.

He looked down at the tag which he stole from the creature just before he left. It looked like the kind of tag that would be used in a hospital or a lab to label certain patients. He figured there'd be a name on the tag that he could use. Instead the tag bore only one word that only confused him.

The tag read: "KAPRE"

The word was foreign to him but Red X did not divulge in it too much. At least not tonight. Too much has went on already and he needed his rest. So rest he will. Red X pocketed away the tag and wnet on his way home, hoping to put this night behind him.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Minutes later, back inside the warehouse.

From out of the flames it rose up. Like some mythological creature that was born of the flames themselves. The creature rose from out of the burning debris around it, unhurt. The bandages that wrapped most of its upper body were now reduced to ash and its charcoal black-leather skin was now fully exposed without a single scratch on it. It looked around and saw, and smelled, nothing but burning paper around it.

The prey was gone. The prey had escaped. Had it still been human, the creature might have been upset but it wasn't. Instead its own blood boiled with anticipation. It threw its head back and let out a loud roar that would break any man's soul.

The hunt was far from over.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: This chap took more effort than I thought it would. I wanted to make the first encounter something for Red X to remember. Well, stay tuned for the next chapter. Pls. R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Again I say I don't own characters that WB has dibs on.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Morning, outside the city.

Just beyond the city limits was a small desert area that has recently become a rather nice tourist spot. This desert however was nothing like the Mojave or the Sahara which were more or less nothing but flat, dry sand beds. Here there was a lit of red rock, typical of the west coast. However, the most note worthy feature of the area was its canyon network.

If one were to look down from a very high altitude, one could see a great number of canyons and ravines that were all intertwined in a network of forks and intersections making the whole thing look like some sort of natural rock maze. It was as if mother nature dropped a biscuit from a height which cracked upon hitting the floor. This quality of the area made it a popular fly-by spot for scenic tour companies.

And what most people don't know is this was also a popular hunting ground.

Somewhere in the canyons, below the rim of the cliffs, the whipping of rotor blades could be heard by anybody in the area if they were close enough. The source was an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter that was idly flying through the deep crack in the earth. But this was not some ordinary Apache that most people would associate with the US military.

For one thing, this Apache was painted in a dark blue coat. Most of its weapons were absent including the Hydra rocket pods and the Hellfire missiles. It didn't need them for the time being. On its right engine, printed in large bold letters was the designation "COBRA 2" accompanied by the JCPD logo removing any qualms about to whom this chopper belonged to.

Inside the Apache was the standard crew of two people sitting in tandem. Seated up front was the gunner and copilot, a young woman officer wearing a standard flight suit colored in blue and bore her nametag and a JCPD patch on the shoulder. On her specialized gunner's helmet was a sticker the bore her call sign: Sparrow. Seated above and behind her was the pilot, a young man dressed similarly as her. his helmet had a sticker with his call sign: Crow.

"Any sign on radar?" asked the pilot.

"None," replied the gunner looking down on a radar screen that showed nothing but the rocks around them. Their target would have been blatantly obvious if it were in range however, their radar didn't have the capabilities of reading through solid granite.

"There's a fork up ahead," said the pilot. "Which direction should we go, Sparrow?"

The gunner looked up in front of the aircraft and saw what her pilot was talking about. The gunship had reached fork where the canyon split into two paths. One path continued north with only a slight curve. The other path was a sharp angle and turned south west.

"We lost the target a click behind us when it turned west at a junction. Maybe we should also…wait."

Just then something blipped on the gunner's radar screen which caught the signature another aircraft in the airspace which caught the crew of the Cobra Two by surprise.

"Crow, watch our 8'oclock!" exclaimed the gunner

Crow, the pilot, looked out his cockpit and saw a small black helicopter that was quickly climbing up to aim its weapons at them. At the same time, a myriad of warning buzzers made themselves known in the Apache's cockpit.

"Damn!" exclaimed the pilot right before he suddenly turned the flightstick to the right causing his chopper to suddenly roll to the right into a dive. The maneuver saved the gunship from being locked on by the bogey's weapons and bought the two-person crew some breathing room. the smaller aircraft flew forward above them into the canyon

"Bogey escaping at 12'oclock!" exclaimed the gunner.

"Copy."

The pilot corrected the flight of their gunship close to the ground and began to pursuit the smaller aircraft just ahead of them. The target was following the contours of the canyon just as before however the pilot of Cobra Two was not to be outdone by this.

Meanwhile, the gunner was busy at her seat. "Weapon systems all on," she said. "targeting systems, okay. Give me a clear shot, Crow."

"Copy!"

The gunner then concentrated on her targeting equipment. She checked her weapons. All she had was the chain gun on the chopper's nose. That would be enough. The Apache's targeting system is unrivaled and even with just the gun she could take down the bogey ahead of them. Though she knew that this was easier than done. They weren't exactly in the ideal situation either making the targeting a little more difficult. Flying through the canyon like this gave her little opportunity to get a proper shot. The bogey itself was no clay pigeon.

The bogey in question was an MD-520N helicopter. Small, maneuverable, and easily serviceable, it was a favorite for most law enforcement organizations as a scouting aircraft. One of the main reasons it was popular was because it was one of the few models that feature the NOTAR design meaning it didn't have a tail rotor like conventional helicopters making it at least sixty percent quieter than anything in its class.

"He's fast," commented the pilot.

"Not the time to admire him, Crow," snapped back the gunner. "He's two hundred meters and closing."

The Apache gunned forward close to its top speed when the reached another bend in the canyon. The 520N made a sharp turn easily and the apache would soon follow. However, the pilot of the smaller 520N was no fool. This was noticed by the gunner again on her radar screen. The bogey had stopped just around the corner. The gunner tried to warn her pilot but at the rate that they were going the Apache was already committed to making the turn. As soon as the Cobra Two cleared the turn, the 520N was there waiting in ambush.

But Cobra Two's pilot received enough warning from his gunner a while ago to make a last ditch escape by sharply rolling the aircraft at an awkward angle pointing up. Cobra Two managed to fly itself up and over the hovering 520N before it could get a decent missile and continue forward into the canyon. The 520N turned around and pursued the Apache.

"Whoa, cat became the mouse," commented the pilot

"This isn't over yet," said the gunner. "Keep flying ahead and make sure he can't get a lock on us. I've got a plan."

Cobra Two pulled ahead at the fastest speed it could afford which was impressive considering that it was flying in the snaking canyon. Though more agile, the 520N had trouble keeping up since it could not predict the Apache's moves and its pilot was also partially preoccupied with trying to get a good missile lock. Little did the 520N's pilot know that he was falling right into a trap.

The two aircrafts flew through a straight path. This was a chance the pilot of the 520N was waiting for. The Apache in front of it had no place to evade in this place. All he needed was a few seconds to get a missile lock and this chase would be over. However, Cobra Two needed less time than that to reach the end of the canyon.

The path they were on lead to a dead end of sheer rock wall. This was what Cobra Two's crew was banking on. They reached it just in time and suddenly pulled up and climbed dramatically. The pilot of the smaller chopper didn't see that coming and found himself heading straight for a rock wall. The pilot of the 520N put as much force as he can to stopping the aircraft and preventing a fatal crash. While this was happening, Cobra Two performed a difficult loop maneuver that only few other helicopters can achieve. The Apache leveled out behind the 520N which was in the process of spinning around. But the Apache's advanced targeting systems only needed a few seconds to end the battle.

A long beep emanated from the control panel of Cobra Two's gunner indicating a successful gun lock. "Target locked!" exclaimed the gunner.

"Alright!" exclaimed in the pilot. "The Captain is dead!"

"You hear that, Captain?" asked the gunner. "Guess you're buying drinks tonight."

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever," replied the pilot of the 520N in a rather disappointed tone. "If you make me start a tab at that bar…"

"Whatever, Captain. What do you say we just call it a day?"

"Fine. Meet at the landing pad. We can start Cobra Three's session then."

"Copy," replied both of the crew of Cobra Two.

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On a nearby clearing.

There was a small outpost consisting of a small number of marked police cars, vans and other specialized vehicles, including three more AH-64 Apache helicopters, both were labeled with the designation "COBRA" with a number at the side of the engines. The numbers read 01, 03, and 04. The flight crews and all the other people were having some drinks while waiting for the two other choppers to return from the trial session.

Soon enough a whipping of air could be heard and those on the ground turned to see the two flying in from the west like a couple of mythical dragon rising from the barren earth. Both choppers landed somewhere in the general area of the outpost that was created by the men, women and various vehicles. The pilot of the 520N exited first and called some of the maintenance crews in the area and ordered them to refuel his aircraft. The two crew members of Cobra Two got out from their aircraft and landed on the dirt below. The gunner was the first to remove her helmet and let the rays of the rising sun to warm her light skin and medium-length light brown hair.

"Good job out there, Jill," said the pilot as he took off his helmet.

Lieutenant Jill Kavanagh, the gunner and copilot of Cobra Two, looked back at him with her dark brown eyes and gave him an acknowledging nod. Jill was a young woman in her mid-twenties with a nice slim figure. Even at such a young age she managed to become a respected member of the JCPD community. It was also partially due to her brother who was a memeber of SWAT.

They were soon approached by the other flight crews and started to receive a number of applauding statements. Apparently, news travels very fast, especially through radio.

"So, how long was it?" asked the pilot.

"Fifteen minutes and twenty-two seconds," said one of the other pilots.

"Damn. Just twelve seconds off the record."

"Like I would let you take my record, Crow." The pilot of the 520N, Captain Jacobs, approached the gathering of flight crews. The grouped immediately dispersed a bit so as to give the Captain a clear view of the Cobra Two crew. "Nevertheless you did a good job. And as promised, drinks are on me tonight."

This comment was met with a chorus of cheers from the rest of the pilots.

The Captain sighed. "Alright, next up is Cobra Three. Let's get this over with already people, I want us done by yesterday. Move!"

The crew of Cobra Three saluted and did as they were told. Soon the session would start again. This was a regular training regiment for the JCPD's special air unit, codenamed "Cobra". As a result from the rise of extreme-level crime situations across the city and in nearby neighboring cities, police authorities have been forced to take more drastic measures in the war against crime. These tactics included upgrading weapon's systems, equipment, and training regiments for all aspects of the police force. One of the most radical additions to the police force was the Cobra unit.

Its first real field test was the incident that involved the case with two meta-human teenagers which happened some moths ago where a supernatural creature attacked the city. Cobra was called in. Though all four of the choppers of the unit were downed (one of which needed major repair afterwards), the mission was generally considered a success since the unit was successful in keeping the creature occupied in order to minimize civilian casualties. Since then the Cobra unit has steadily improved its record with a number of successful missions ranging from surveillance, assault, escort, high-profile arrests, and even hostage rescue.

"So what do you wanna do now?" asked Cobra Two's pilot, Lieutenant Han Park. Han was born South Korean and his family moved to the US when he was only a kid. He was of average height and build at his current age of thirty-five, dark eyes and short hair along with a light complexion. Han was Jill's friend as well as her colleague. It was partially through him that she got her current job as position as lieutenant and Han's copilot.

"What is there to do?"

"There's a coffee maker in that van over there."

"What, no donuts?"

"Well, we got at least sixty minutes to kill."

"If that's the case then I'll just catch some sleep in the cockpit."

Jill started moving towards their chopper when she stopped then turned back to her pilot. "Hey, Han, did I tell you to remind me of something today? I feel like I'm forgetting something."

Han smiled knowingly. "You mean your brothers commendation tomorrow. You said you were gonna get congratulations gift for him."

"Oh yeah."

Jill thought back. Her brother was due for a commendation, along with several other officers, tomorrow at a formal ceremony in city hall. She was supposed to get a gift for him later on. She thought about her options as she went into her seat in the cockpit until sleep got the better of her.

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Murakami High School.

Nick Davenport was seated in one of the Library's many computer terminals meant for student research. He stared blankly at the screen as he waited for the search results to pop up on the screen. While he waited he reached into his pocket and took out the tag he took from the creature the night before. He read the one single word written on it again. The word still had no meaning to him even now.

His search results came up and he looked at the screen. Same results as the other search engines showed. Nick was starting to feel dejected. All his research into this "KAPRE" was going nowhere. Just about every site that popped up in the search results said the same thing.

Nick originally thought that the word was supposed to be an abbreviation to something or the name of some group. But the name turned out to be referring to something a lot more unrealistic. Every webpage that came out said the same thing in general:

A Kapre was mythological demon from Philippine mythology, described mainly as a very large, dark-skinned, male figure with large bright eyes, always seen smoking a large cigar and hides on top of trees in the dense jungles waiting for unsuspecting people to pass by. The Kapre, while imposing at first glance, is generally harmless and is only known to scare people with pranks. According to other tales, if one is able to sneak up and catch a Kapre with rope, that person will receive gold, and other tales also say that they hold a magical stone which when obtained by a person will let the Kapre grant that person wishes like a genie.

Generally harmless, Nick repeated in his head. Tell that to my aching leg!

With that thought, Nick unconsciously rubbed his right thigh which still had a slight bruise. Probably from when that thing knocked him into the printers, he supposed. He looked back at the screen and double-checked his readings. Aside from all that mystical stuff and the thing about the creature being an apparent chain smoker, the physical description seemed to somewhat fit what he saw the night before.

And the creature was by no means harmless, that was one thing Nick was sure of.

With nothing better to do, Nick continued on reading and even went on to read about all the other mythological demons and eventually resigning in himself that there was nothing useful he could use in anything he read.

With a sigh he closed the sites which he didn't need or found useless and decided to go the website of a local newspaper. The incident at the printing press wasn't front news and it was actually bumped to page 12. Police say that there was no evidence pointing to any specific individual. Good news: no media exposure of the Red X at the scene. Bad news: still no info on that creature. Worse news: there were no remains. What were the chances that that thing was still alive?

He didn't want to think about it. He returned to the front page news. The Parasol Company was in the news again. Something about the company denying accusations of lewd business acts. Nick didn't really care about these things but there was something about Parasol that got under his skin.

Nick let out a long exasperating sigh. This was going nowhere. Nick finally closed all the screens and left the terminal for someone else to use. He left the library rather dejected As he walked down the halls, Nick wondered what to do next. His next class was still a good forty minutes away. He was also hungry but because of the progress of the day he wasn't in the mood to eat. He thought he'd just go outside, sit somewhere and just wait for his class time.

"Nick!" called out Tara .

Nick turned to see Tara run up from behind him and give him an affectionate hug as if he was some kind of puppy dog. Well, at least this was one thing to lighten up his day, Nick thought.

"Good thing I ran into you," said Tara .

"Why? Need to copy my homework again?" replied Nick.

Tara gave him a playful slap on the shoulder and put on an annoyed face. "Will you cut that out. I'm not totally dependent on you for my academics you know."

"Mostly, but not totally."

"Enough."

Nick tried to hide a smile. He was genuinely just happy to see her today.

"C'mon," she urged, "there's still time before our next class. Why don't we get lunch first? I'm famished."

"Sure thing," replied Nick, in the mood to eat again.

The both headed for the school's canteen while chatting casually. A minute passed of the two walking side by side when Tara suddenly veered of the topic they were talking about and started to notice something. Nick eventually noticed Tara noticing something and turned to her.

"What is it?" he asked.

Tara gave him a serious questioning look. "You're injured aren't you?"

Nick was caught off-guard by this. He forgot how perceptive Tara actually was. She frequently noticed things other people often overlook. This was probably why she did well in art subjects. But that wasn't the point then and there. Nick slowed down in his stride and Tara slowed to keep pace as well.

"What makes you say that?" asked Nick.

"You're limping a bit, that's what."

This took about a second to register in Nick's mind. He tried to look back at his own steps to try and see if Tara was telling the truth. He might have been limping slightly. Probably because of the slight bruise of his leg. Before he could control it, his hand unconsciously moved to his leg to rub it. Tara noticed this instantly and her face became even more questioning. Nick mentally cursed himself.

"Classroom, now!" she ordered him. He complied without question.

They both found an unoccupied room where they could have a private moment together and talk. They also made sure that no one saw them. Good thing the halls were relatively empty at that time. Tara sat on one of the desks up front while Nick leaned on the blackboard.

"So, what happened?" she questioned.

"Nothing." This was Nick's standard response as with most people in his position, it came automatically. And Tara automatically didn't believe this.

"Uh uh, no way you're getting off that easy."

"Okay, so let's say something did happen. Why do you still always have to assume a scenario where I have my arms ripped off...or something like that."

"Nick, please, I know you better than that."

"But..." Nick faltered in his response and he sighed dejectedly. He mentally berated himself for ever thinking he could pull one over on Tara. She was too good for that.

Tara sighed exasperatingly. "Look here, Nick. I'm okay with the idea that you go out every once in a while wearing black and red. I some ways I like having a boyfriend who's an eccentric nocturnal thrill seeking shinobi who is into black tights in a manner of speaking. God knows you're anything but dull, Nick."

Nick cringed a bit at that remark. Tara showed a little humor in her own remark. "I also know how good you are at being all that stuff I said. And thus I know you don't get injured just like that."

Nick saw what she was getting at. True, on normal circumstances it would be highly unlikely for the Red X to be injured like he was even if he does say so himself. Tara was probably overestimating his abilities as the Red X though. Sure, he doesn't get hurt that often, but he was still human after all. Nick once again unconsciously rubbed the bruise on his leg. There wasn't much pain now and the bruise would most likely be gone by the next day.

"What happened?" Tara asked again more insistently this time. "Was it the Titans?"

"No. It was someone…some_thing_ else."

A genuine expression of shock, fear, and curiosity showed in Tara's face. "Something else?"

Nick was getting worried. That expression on Tara's face was worrying him. He didn't like seeing her this way. It nearly broke his heart but at the same time he couldn't help but be honest with her. He didn't want to say anything more than what he already said because he knew it would only cause more heartache in both of them.

"You're not gonna tell me anymore, are you?" asked Tara.

"If you really want to know…I can't lie to you, Tara."

Tara got off the desk she was sitting on and moved to Nick she slowly, caringly, wrapped her arms around him from his front and pressed her body to his own. Nick could smell the shampoo in her hair and it felt oddly refreshing to him. He could even almost feel her heartbeat. Slowly he hugged her back.

"At least tell me you'll be fine," said Tara.

"I'll be fine."

"Say it like I'll believe it."

Nick sighed exasperatingly. He didn't want to keep on hurting her like this. But by then, both of them knew the truth of things.

Nick knew that he could not let it end there. That thing, that _Kapre_, came after him specifically, and until he can be absolutely sure of the creature's fate. He has to see this thing through the end now. He didn't have a choice. Tara knew this truth as well. And even though she wished she could, she couldn't stop him from doing what he has to do. All she could do was hope that everything would turn out well in the end.

"Tara," he called to her softly, "I promised you a long time ago that I'm not gonna disappear."

Tara looked up to him now, taken off-guard by his sudden statement.

Nick looked back down on her with sincere eyes. "I don't plan on breaking that promise."

Slowly, a smile formed on her lips. "You better not," she said, or I'll hang you myself."

They both giggled slightly. Then, eventually, they moved their faces closer to each other until their lips met. And that's when Tara believed Nick's words when he said that he would be fine.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere else.

Annette Ashford walked down an empty hall with the grace and dignity of a true professional woman. Her creamy white skin, pampered by only the best cosmetic products, and her long black hair tied in a straight, neat ponytail showed her to be no ordinary woman. He stride was strong and demanded respect with every step and also complemented her slim and curvy figure. Her face was stern and showed no sign of weakness whatsoever. Her formal attire, all the way from her shiny and expensive red high-heels, dark brown stockings, red dress-suit, even to her specially picked bra that pulled up her breasts at just the right height, gave her a sense of exotic beauty and at the same time domination demeanor.

All in all, a woman you did not want to mess with.

She walked down the hallway on some floor, in some building, on some street, somewhere in the city. The hallway led to only one single door. She reached the door and examined the electronic lock system on the door: A retina scan, and fingerprint scan. She passed them both and the door opened before her.

Inside was a conference room. In the room was a large round table with six seats, five of which were occupied by men in business suits. Each of the men were from different backgrounds but one thing they had in common was that when Ms. Ashford entered the room, they all instantly recognized her silent authority. Annette Ashford took the last remaining seat in at the table and took a minute to scan the other occupants in the room. During this tense period, none of the men dared to move a muscle. After she seemed satisfied, Ms. Ashford fell back on her chair and sat in a more relaxed way.

"Now gentlemen," she said, "first order of business: The Red X isn't dead yet. Can someone please explain this to me?"

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Author's note: A lot of stuff got in the way so I was late in finishing up this chapter. Not much action but I managed to introduce a couple of the primary characters I'll be using more of in the story. Till next time. Pls. R&R.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do declare that the Teen Titans and all related characters have nothing to do with me!

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Drycreek Plaza.

Jill Kavanagh was now off duty for the day and was browsing the plaza. As her colleague, Han, explained earlier, she was here to buy a gift for her brother, Derek, who would be commemorated tomorrow at the city's official Medal Day Ceremony, along with his entire SWAT unit and several other officers, for a rescue operation that happened over two weeks ago.

This put Jill in somewhat of a bind. What do you get a guy who's gonna receive the medal of valor? She thought about small gift items first. But almost as soon as she thought that the idea seemed completely inappropriate. He risked his life for Pete's sake, she told herself, what are you gonna do, get him a GI Joe action figure.

Something bigger with a little more sentiment. An expensive bottle of wine, perhaps? She couldn't afford anything like that unless she used her credit card, which she was opposed to under most circumstances. What else then?

She decided to simply browse through the place and try to hit on something she could get. She looked through clothing stores and briefly considered getting him a new jacket or something. She looked through shoe stores but she remembered she already got him shoes for last Christmas. She kept on wandering across the crowded plaza until she decided to take a break and found a quiet spot to sit and think.

This was harder than she thought it was. She knew her brother more than anyone else. Mostly because he's the only immediate family she has left. Yet she couldn't find one thing in this whole place that she can't give him without looking either too cheap or too smothering.

At that instant, her cell phone rang. She almost jumped from the sudden vibration in her pocket. This mainly because that she rarely (if ever) took her cell phone with her. Jill supposed she simply got used to the radio comm.

She took the device out of her pocket and answered the caller who turned out to be her brother. "Jill, I finally caught you."

"Oh, Derek," replied Jill with a slight hint of sisterly affection. "Why are you calling?"

"I tried to reach you at your desk but Han told me you already took the day off. I just wanted to ask a favor."

"You want me to pick up your suit from the cleaners, don't you?"

"Well, I gotta look good for the ceremony right?"

"Why? Will you be late getting home again?"

"Something about a mandatory seminar. Nothing serious only it's gonna take at least three hours."

"Sure, sure."

"By the way, Han told me you're at the plaza right now. That right?"

Jill was caught off-guard by that. She mentally cursed Han for telling on her.

"Sis," said Derek in a slightly annoyed tone, "I told you not to bother getting me anything."

"But, I still want to get you something, anyway."

"I'm already getting a blue bar and a fancy certificate from the mayor. I can't ask for anything more than that, Sis. Besides I wouldn't want to break your bank."

Jill somehow got annoyed at that last comment. "What would make you think I can't afford it?"

"We're cops after all."

"I'm with the Cobra Unit. You wouldn't believe the hazard pay we get."

"Really?...Still--"

"You're getting a gift from me whether you like it or not!" Jill said with a certain degree of authority which seemed to have finally got Derek to surrender to her. One of the perks of being the older sister.

"Fine, have it your way!" Derek said. "but don't blame me if I don't like."

"You let me worry about that."

"Ok then. I'll guess I'll just see you later then."

"Yeah, see ya."

With that, Derek hung up and ended the phone conversation. Jill pocketed away her cell phone and stood up with a renewed vigor in her shopping agenda. No way can she back down now. She was gonna get him a gift even if it was the last thing she did.

She'll be damned if the only thing she could get him was a coffee mug with "congratulations" written on it.

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At Parasol's hidden conference room.

"I asked you a question, gentlemen," repeated Ms. Ashford.

Around her, the five men in suits were looking at each other nervously. Eventually one of them was brave enough to talk. A tall black man with a shaven head cleared his throat and stuttered a bit as he looked for words to say. Ms. Ashford scrutinized him with her sharp glare.

"Um, well, here's the situation thus far," said the man. "The last report stated that the Kapre has already made contact with the Red X as of last night. The encounter was also the cause of the of the fire that wrecked the printing press that was shown on the news."

"I see."

Ms. Ashford's answer was so simply that the black man had no idea how to react which caused him to freeze up.

"You were saying, Mr. Pulaski?"

The black man, Mr. Pulaski apparently, coughed nervously and continued. "From what was observed, the Kapre tried but failed to kill the target. However, we have assurance that the Kapre is alive and well by now."

"And so is the target," Ms. Ashford added with a hint of discontent.

Mr. Pulaski didn't speak for the remainder of the meeting. Next to him, an old white man started to say something. "Ms. Ashford, please consider that the project is still in the experimental phase. We still don't know the full capabilities of the Kapre. And for that matter we also don't know the full capabilities of the Red X."

"Did I ask for an excuse, Mr. Delaine?"

The old white man shut up.

"Do I have to explain again to everyone here the scope of what we are trying to accomplish?"

It was a rhetorical question and everyone in the room knew that. But Ms. Ashford said it in a way that almost demanded an answer. This brought on a long awkward silence from the room. Ms. Ashford once again gave scrutinizing looks to everyone and she made sure everyone noticed those looks.

Incompetents, she thought. They were all useless incompetents. But she had little other options other than these six. They were the best she could get but even so her plans and ambitions always seem to completely surpass the mental capacity of anyone below her. This troubled her to a certain degree. How was she supposed to achieve anything if she continued to surround herself with people who were less bound by the parameters of great ambition?

"Alright, let us go through this one more time then," she said. "We picked the Red X as our target for two main reasons."

She lifted her hand for the rest of the men to see. She raised her index finger while keeping the rest knuckled up. "Firstly, we wanted a target that was inconspicuous but at the same time would provide the necessary parameters to which we could accurately measure the abilities of our _product_. This is why we didn't pick the Titans as our targets as suggested by Mr. Carlson." She flashed an accusing glance towards a younger man in the room when she said that then continued. "The Red X was the ideal choice for the target because we could never be tied up with him. And by nature, the Red X was anything but loud to the crowd."

She then raised her middle finger to pair up with her index finger. "Secondly, we wanted a target that would provide the next to extreme conditions that would allow us to sufficiently test the Kapre as it was. The Red X's know skills ands abilities, couple with the theorized unknown ones, provided the most excellent base for the tests. The Red X, if noting else, is what I would consider a master survivalist. His record makes him more than a match for our product."

The men were silent. As they should be, Ms. Ashford thought to herself.

"Ms. Ashford," spoke a Hispanic gentleman. "We all know this already."

"I'm not sure you do. Otherwise I wouldn't have to be asking these type of things."

"Ms. Ashford, you said yourself that the Red X was essentially still an unknown factor in the experiment. Much of his skill base is yet to be measured and recorded. The base parameters that were built into the Kapre were simply not sufficient."

"And now I'm asking you why they were not sufficient."

"As I said, ma'am, too many unknown factors in both the target and the product. Had we increased the level of the Kapre's abilities to anything higher that is current D level configuration we risked loosing control of the product since we were still in the experimental phase. As you know, the Kapre is still unstable and as long as it stays in its D level configuration we could still keep a very good level of control over it."

"So you think that it was a good idea to simply play it safe?"

"Uh, Yes ma'am."

"So what you're telling me, Mr. Lopez, is that we are not sure that we can control the creature at anything higher than its lowest level of capability. Is that right?"

Mr. Lopez stuttered.

Ms. Ashford continued to press the matter. "Why would that be? Shouldn't it be that we would have full control of the Kapre even in its full level of capability? Unless you are telling me that we do not have confidence in our own product."

The men were silent.

Ms. Ashford narrowed her eyes to them. Incompetents.

"Gentlemen…," she slurred, "if we do not have confidence in our own product, how much less would our more…clandestine clients have?"

Silence.

"This is not acceptable Gentlemen. I know you can do better. I _demand_ you can do better. I want this project under our full control and that we not become victims of unknown variables."

Ms. Ashford suddenly stood up from her seat which caused some of the men to jump. "I think this meeting is over for today. I have made my point clear and so have you, gentlemen. And let me add that I am not satisfied. Give me results, gentlemen…or give me your heads on a platter."

The men cringed. Ms. Ashford turned and headed straight for the door that was both the entrance and the exit to the room. She left the men behind and made her way down the hallway.

This was a problem. More so, a problem that she will not easily remedy. It was hard being the only one among a crowd with any sort of ambition. But she must persist. It was her duty to the company. She would carry this whole company on her shoulders if she had to. She will never give up on it.

Ms. Ashford reached into her pocket an retrieved a slim cell phone. She dialed a number and th caller from the other side picked up before the first ring was even finised.

"Things are not progressing as I want it," said Ms. Ashford without even letting the person on the other line to say hello. "I need you to move this along. Make sure the product and the target meet again. I need conclusive results, do you hear me."

The receiver of the call gave an affirmative response.

"Good."

Ms. Ashford hung up and pocketed away her phone.

Some measure will have to be taken but she knew in the end none of it would really matter. History will only remember the things she has accomplished. In the end she would be on top again, uncontested.

It was her destiny.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Nighttime. At the sight of the burnt down printing press.

From out of the murky night air, the form of Red X materialized out in the open. He stood among the still smoldering rubble. The place was vacant due to the fact that police have sealed off the area thought there weren't even any police around. Red X was not surprised. According to the news, police treated this case as just a simple accident and weren't treating it as arson so he didn't have to worry about pesky investigation teams.

Red x walked across the ruble to where the warehouse was. He could remember that exact same spot where he left the creature to burn. He could tell he was in the right spot due to the charred remains of the forklift he used. What he saw didn't surprise him but it was nowhere near satisfying either.

Indeed, the creature was gone. There was a bit of its dry blood still on the floor. It's dark color made it anything but human blood. Red x kneeled down to examine the blood by rubbing his gloved fingers over it. The consistency, even though it was dry, was also unusual.

With one hand, he reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small plastic test tube with a lid on top. With his other hand, he formed an x-blade and scraped as much of the dried up blood as he could into the test tube before sealing it with the lid and putting it back into the compartment in his belt. Something to look at later on.

Know your enemy, he thought. An ancient wartime saying that still holds true. If he wants to get out of this alive he must everything he can about that Kapre aside from its unusual name.

Red X stood up to his full high tans simply stood in that spot for a time, looking up into the night sky. He took this short peaceful moment to reflect on what has happened so far. It has certainly been an unusual night last night. And he doubted that as the night rolled along, it would only get stranger from here on out. He's gonna have to be tough for that.

But what is the Red X if not a survivor? The legendary master thief of the night will not go down like this. Not in a million years. He will live through this, just all through that other stuff he went through in the past. Nothing is too big a challenge or the Red X. Nothing at all.

Red X stood in silence for a minute longer. Nothing but the cool night breeze made a sound. The atmosphere was calm and relaxing. The sky was also clear of clouds. It was almost like a fantasy.

Red X whipped around in the flash of a second while holding a fan of x-shurikens with explosive properties in one hand and looked to be ready to throw it at a specific direction. "Alright buddy, you can drop ninja act. Show yourself!"

Nothing in the shadows moved. Red X narrowed his eyes.

"The shy type huh?"

Without any warning, Red X threw the fan of x-shurikens towards a particular spot in the ruble. Although the amount of explosive in each of the x-shurikens were small compared to Red X's x-bombs, the total number of projectiles created enough of a combined effect to bring out the mysterious interloper.

From out of the shadows jumped a human figure. The unknown person landed on a nearby pile of rubble. Red X eyes the mysterious figure in the darkness. Even with the lack of light some details were clear. The person, whoever it was, was thin and only a about five feet in height. Most of his body was hidden by baggy clothing which included cargo pants and a jacket that was clearly three sizes too big and sleeves so long that they reached past his knees when he stood straight. Most of the stranger's face was covered by an unusual looking mask which looked like something Sam Fisher would wear. Aside from his mouth and chin, which showed white, youthful skin, the only other exposed part of his body was his short, spiky, bleached hair.

Red X couldn't really tell how old this person was among other traits. One thing was sure though: the bastard was smiling at him. Red X remained calm nonetheless though that grin was annoying him, whether it was out of humor or maybe even admiration. Whatever, there wqas something about that smile that struck Red X as familiar.

"Who are you?" asked the master thief.

The person did not respond.

Red X stood looking stoic but in truth, he could see certain events about to happen. He was readying his body for a tussle that he knew was irritatingly inevitable. The unknown person seemed to think so to as his smile disappeared. A few seconds passed.

Suddenly the stranger shot one arm forward with twice the speed of a viper's strike. From out of the sleeve shot a long dark whip-like weapon the flew towards Red X. Fortunately Red X was already moving by the time the stranger went on the offensive. The whip shattered a piece of rubble right behind Red X who had flipped away from the strike zone and landed safely on another spot.

From that spot, Red X quickly counterattacked by throwing a fan of x-shurikens towards his enemy. The unknown stranger saw this coming almost too late and had to dive out of the way of the incoming projectiles which cut right through several pieces of rubble. The stranger got back up to his feet as soon as he can. But by then, Red X was already moving again.

Red X dashed for the stranger and threw another set of x-shurikens. The stranger defended himself by swinging the whip attached to his arm and expertly swiped the projectiles in mid-air, destroying them completely. Red X had anticipated this and was already following up with another move. Red X leapt into the air, up and over the stranger. When he was above the stranger, Red X shot out an x-bomb straight down while he continued to fly forward.

The stranger knew he was in a little trouble at that point. He couldn't move his arm in time to swipe the x-bomb quick enough. He was forced to use his other. In the flash of a millisecond, the stranger threw up his other arm and another whip-like weapon shot from the sleeve and obliterated the x-bomb while it was still a good distance away.

Red X landed behind the stranger and for the first time got a good look at his assailant's weapons. With one hand raised up causing the sleeve to slide down, the Red X could clearly see the exposed forearm. Around the forearm was what looked like a specially designed gauntlet with a mechanism that mainly consisted of a reel and a tube which fed the long whip that extended out of the stranger's hand. Red X, with his sharp trained eyes, analyzed the whip and the reel and estimated that each whip must be about five meters long.

Five meters long and they come in pairs, thought Red X. At that distance his aim with projectile weaponry was still deadly. But how soon could he end a fight by keeping his distance like that. There was also no doubt in his mind that with two whips and a little skill, the stranger could easily take his time at keeping him at bay.

The stranger turned to face his opponent who was crouched low into the ground like a predator waiting for the right moment to pounce. The stranger readied himself then suddenly swung both his whips up and brought them down upon Red X. The master thief didn't move but a moment later he disappeared into thin air and the whips hit nothing but debris. The impact from the twin whips created a rift on the ground and kicked up dust into the air. Red X was nowhere to be found.

The stranger seemed perplexed and started to spin his head around maddeningly searching for his missing opponent. He brought a hand up to his mask and turned some knobs at the side, switching through various vision modes. Infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, until finally he spotted the Red X in the darkness. Too bad he was a little too late. By the time he spotted Red X, the master thief was already charging towards him with a powerful kick that sent the stranger to the only still standing part of what was once a brick wall.

The stranger had his back flattened to the wall. Red X swopped in and pinned the stranger with one hand on the chest and an x-blade to the throat. The stranger was obliged to keep as still as he could.

"Alight, let's try this again," said Red X. "Who are you? Who sent you?"

No response.

"Why are you looking for me? What are your orders?"

Again, silence.

"Let's try another question. What reason is there that I shouldn't slit your throat right here and now."

The stranger grinned and started to giggle, something between a nervous laugh and an insane one. Red X has seen enough weirdoes in his time to be creeped out by this but it still annoyed him to some degree.

"I'm afraid," said the stranger in an unusually shrill voice, "now is not the time to answer such questions."

Red X didn't like this answer. "You know, there's a limit to my patience."

"Oh, come now." The stranger's voice was unusually calm. "Where is the fun if I just tell you everything?"

"If you don't give me better answers than that, I'm gonna start having a different kind of fun." Red X pressed the blade into the stranger's skin just enough to draw a single drop of blood. From the sudden change in expression, Red X could tell this guy felt it.

The stranger seemed to force his grin back into his lips. "Heh. Even if I told you all that you would want to know, it won't make a single bit of difference. It will still come after you."

"What will?"

"The Kapre…"

The word lingered in Red X's head for a long moment.

"…What do you know about that thing? Why is it after me?"

"Heh…Because it is its destiny."

"What?"

"Just like it was your destiny when you put on that suit!"

Red X's eyes widened then narrowed. The stranger kept grinning like an idiot, albeit a knowing idiot. Red X found himself suddenly retracting his bladed hand from his assailant's throat. A flash of familiarity in the smile.

"…Where do I know you from?"

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: They're most likely still not mine.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere close.

It could smell him again.

The scent was fresh and near. That unmistakable aroma of its prey was thick in the air. That alone caused the creature's blood to boil with an excitement it couldn't comprehend even if it had a mind of its own. It was being driven again by that same hunger that made it yearn for this prey and this prey alone. The creature's tongue could almost taste that warm flesh and sweet blood that it craved so much. It knew that nothing less than would satisfy the hunger.

Its red eyes were wide as it scanned the darkened alleyways below as it perched itself on rooftops. The creature never lingered in one spot for too long as the urge to move was overwhelming. With rapid movement from it's unnaturally strong limbs, the creature leapt and bounded across rooftops, walls, and all the in-betweens, all the while remaining unseen and unheard by the people who it would pass.

Moving like the shadow of a spirit, the creature neared its prey with ferocious speed, the thrill of the hunt driving it on.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back at the burned down printing press.

"Just tell me who the hell you are," demanded Red X to the stranger who he had yet to let go.

The stranger only grinned more and gave out a shrill-sounding snicker. "What fun would that be if I just tell you outright? You should blame yourself for having such a bad memory."

"So we have met before," said Red X. He was still desperately trying to search his memory on the exact moment he knew this person from. But it was futile. The stranger had yet to reveal his face to him and the voice, though familiar, was nothing his mind could make a concrete profile on.

The stranger snickered again. "I love paying these games! They are so much more interesting with players like you around."

Red X pressed the x-blade a bit more to stifle the stranger's deluded sense of humor. "I don't play games! Especially sick one like this. I don't care if I've met you before or not! I just want to know more about that freak that's after my neck! What is it? Where did it come from? And why me?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you're capable of finding out for yourself. It'll be a lot more fun that way. And besides…"

At that point, a device on the stranger's belt began to beep repeatedly. Red X glanced down a noticed a small red light that was blinking on and off in sync with the beeping sound.

"It seems that…" continued the stranger. "our friend wants to join the fun…"

Red X contemplated that statement for just a second. But that one second was all the stranger needed to get back the upper hand. The stranger threw his head forward and butted it against Red X's temple. Red X was taken aback by the sudden blow allowing his opponent to further shove him away. Disoriented slightly, Red X stumbled back but soon regained composure.

The stranger didn't waste time waiting for the master thief to come back at him. With a flick of both wrists, the entire lengths of the two whips reeled back into the gauntlets hidden in his sleeve. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small grenade. The stranger quickly pulled the pin and tossed the thing in front of Red X.

Quickly noticing the danger, Red X quickly turned away, knelt down on one knee, and covered the side of his body facing the explosive with his cape knowing full well that the special material the cape was wade of could easily withstand a stick of dynamite even if it was less than three feet away.

The grenade exploded but without much force. Red X didn't feel that much explosion. Must've been a stun grenade, he though. He stood up and quickly looked around. His adversary had disappeared. He was expecting this after a move like that. But nonetheless he was still ticked off about it.

"Damn," he mumbled to himself. But then he remembered what the stranger said to him. Our friend wanted to join the fun, he said. It didn't take him more than a couple of seconds to discern the meaning of that comment. Almost instantly, a familiar sense of dread began to rise in his blood.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

On the city streets.

A midnight-blue Subaru Impreza coasted idly down the highway. Inside, sitting in the passenger's seat was the familiar figure of Lieutenant Han Park, albeit minus his usual flight suit and was then wearing a blue jacket with the JCPD logo on the sleeve. Sitting beside him in the driver's seat was a young man in his early twenties and wore a blue shirt. Derek Kavanagh, Jill's brother.

Derek was a member of the JCPD's special weapons and tactics unit, more commonly know as SWAT. As such, he was trained by the best to be the best. He was an expert on small arms and some light infantry weapons. Derek has also been trained in sharpshooting as well. He also trained in hand-to-hand combat and is known for his skill for both on the street and on the mat. Derek had helped Jill into her current position as the gunner of Cobra Two. Both siblings started out as patrolmen and both applied for SWAT after a few years of service.

Derek was the only one accepted at the time due to a rather masculinistic captain at the time. However tat captain has long retired but by then, Jill had all but lost interest in SWAT. Derek was the one to introduce her to the Cobra unit during it conception as well as writing the recommendation letter for excellent conduct.

"Thanks for the ride, Derek," said Han.

"No problem," replied Derek. "Heck, don't mention it. It's not like we're strangers."

Han and Derek have a friendship that started out from their mutual acquaintance with Jill. The two found plenty of things in common and they soon became good buddies. Often they even compare notes on policing.

"So what do you think Jill got you?" asked Han.

Derek grunted in slight frustration. "So she really went ahead and got me something, huh?"

"I'm not that sure, but I'm betting she did. You know her."

"She can be so childish sometimes."

"Hey, you're family. Giving gifts is what families do. You should thank her. Or are you just worried that she might get you something so good that there's no way you can compete when her birthday comes next month?"

"Hmmm. Maybe."

"If anything she might just get you a congratulatory coffee mug."

Derek cracked a grin, taking humor in the Jill's odd habit of referencing police stereotypes. "You'd think she'd be against those things."

"I guess it's just her way of saying she's proud of being a cop."

"She should be. She's one of the best."

"So are you. Man, I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Getting that blue bar pinned to your uniform by the mayor. That's gonna be so wicked."

"Just doing my job."

"Mr. Modest as always. Be proud man. Be thankful too. After all that you've gone through up to this point, It's almost a miracle you're in one piece. This award, it was a long time coming to you."

Derek felt humbled. "Just doing what I can with what I got."

Just then, the police scanner Derek had in the Impreza beeped to life. As with procedure, the dispatcher's called out what units where needed in a given area and the problem that was reported and as per procedure, she usually repeated things twice just to get the message across.

"Calling all units in the south district," said the dispatcher, "all units in the south district. Possible two-one-seven at the docks. Repeat, possible two-one-seven."

The two officers inside the Impreza looked at each other.

"Two-one-seven. That's serious," said Han.

"And it's near where we are right now," added Derek.

"Do you think we should check it out?"

Derek didn't answer immediately but the slight smile that was forming on his face said enough of his feelings. He was always the go-head-first type of guy. His sister would attest to this.

"I'm up for it," he said resolutely. "How about you?"

"Um, sure, I guess."

"What're you packing right now?"

"My M9 and a couple of extra clips. And my standard vest. You?"

"I keep a couple of level three vests in the trunk. Also an M4 and an 870."

"…They allow you to have all that?"

"Comes in handy. I think the docks are that way." Derek points behind them with his thumb. "Let's turn this baby around."

Before Han could protest, Derek kicked the clutch pedal, shifted down two gears, did a Scandinavian flick with the steering wheel while simultaneously pulling the handbrake, effectively turning the Impreza a full 180 degrees in less than a second. He then floored the gas pedal and zoomed down the road back the way they came, narrowly missing some oncoming traffic before crossing to the right lane.

As the Impreza kept picking up speed Han was tightening his seatbelt with one hand and grabbing the handle bar above him with the other.

"Was that entirely necessary?" asked Han, pressing himself into his seat.

"No, it wasn't," replied Derek, shifting up to sixth gear and bringing the Impreza past 150 miles per hour.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

On the city rooftops.

The human body was far from being a defenseless organism. From the moment a baby is born its future habits will be partially governed by a set of basic, yet essential, instincts and behaviors designed to preserve its life to the best of the person's abilities. During times of distress, there will be a release of more catecholamine chemicals in the brain stimulating the production of adrenaline to be distributed to the muscles of the body preparing the organism for heightened muscular activity to either face a stressful situation head-on or escape it entirely. This state of hyperarousal, more commonly known as the fight-or-flight response, has always been a crucial device for the survival of most vertebrate animals, including humans.

Red X knew this more than anyone at the moment.

With speeds that amazed even himself, He rushed across rooftops with a sense of urgency only one creature in this world would bring on him. The Red X was by no means a coward, but he was smart enough to know the difference between being a coward and being an idiot.

Whatever this creature was, it was still currently the best option to run. He had no means to utterly defeat this monster yet and while he was skilled enough to avoid death and dismemberment should there be an encounter, he didn't know how long his own abilities would hold out or, for that matter, how far the creature's abilities go. Stay away for now, he thought. Find an answer first.

But as he was traversing the heights of the city skyscrapers, another problem presented itself. He knew he was running, but to where exactly? Where could he hide, and stay hidden long enough for the sun to rise? (he was assuming by now that the creature did not come out during daylight). Should he just find someplace safe or just keep moving. He would not dare ever go to someplace crowded. In its ongoing quest get a literal piece of him, it was very doubtable that the creature had a sense a moral to spare innocents in its way. No, keep away from people. That's the first rule.

As he went across the city, Red X didn't even realize that he had reached the docks, one of many spanning the shoreline of the city. The end of the city limits leading to the pacific. Down below, the docks were still alive with activity. Work rarely stopped here until the latest hours of the night. It was only about nine and the night shift still had a coup0le hours left in it.

"No good," Red X mumbled to himself before turning around. "I have to back track. May I could--"

Red X stopped himself in the middle of his statement. As he turned completely around, standing no more than five meters away, the Kapre was staring him down and snarling at him with its razor sharp teeth.

"…crap," was all Red X could say as the creature pounced on him.

The Kapre tackled the master thief with all the might of a charging bull. Both figures were sent over the edge of the building due to the momentum. They were both falling towards a warehouse at a rate of ten feet per second. Red X instantly knew the situation was bad and he had to act fast if he didn't want to end up as paint on the warehouse roof. Then he saw it. Above them was a crane used for loading the containers coming in and out of the docks. Just what he needed.

Red X stretched out his arm and shot his grappling line towards the crane's long arm. The pulling force of was enough to let Red X slide out of the creature's grip. The creature, now without its prey, fell the rest of the way and crashed straight through the roof of the warehouse. There was a loud crash that followed indicating that the creature made a mess.

Red X pulled himself all the way up to perch on the crane arm. He looked down below at the crash site and saw nothing but dust come out of the hole in the roof. He waited. For a long while, nothing happened.

"Don't tell me, you're dead already…" he mumbled to himself.

As if to answer his inquiry, the creature jumped out of the hole like a missile and impacted hard on the crane's loading arm. Red X was nearly shaken off the arm but managed to grip it before he plunged. The creature hobbled up onto the top of the crane arm and dashed towards where Red X was helplessly hanging. Red X saw this coming and quickly looked around for another option. He saw it in the form of the cable and hook at the end of the crane arm. Before the creature could swipe at him, he swung his body and catapulted himself towards the cable. He grabbed it and stid down all the way to the hook while swinging slightly.

Red X had to compose himself for a moment. Suddenly, he felt the length of the cable shake. He looked up and saw the creature at the tip of the crane's arm. It had the cable in its arm and was in the process of reeling the heavy line up as if reeling in a fish out of the water. Red X didn't stick around for that. He looked below him and saw that the stack of metal containers was still within reasonable distance. He let go of the cabled and dropped only a few meters down onto the top most container of the stack.

He had to roll when he landed in order to avoid putting too much pressure on his legs. He picked himself up and dusted himself off. A loud thump came from behind him. He turned back and saw the creature snarling at him.

"Persistent bastard, aren't you?" he mumbled with only a small hint of nervousness.

The creature charged in, red X knew he had to go close combat for now. As the creature closed in, it swiped its massive muscular arm at the master thief. Red X ducked and narrowly missed having been decapitated. Red X returned with a strong kick to the stomach. That kick would've been enough to bring an ordinary man to his knees but it managed to only make the creature stumbled back a bit. Red X followed up with a series of rapid kicks and punches that drove the creature back a little more.

However, the attacks didn't seem to do much but simply annoy the creature. Red X threw a last punch and the creature caught his arm in its massive hand. Red X was caught off-guard. The creature gripped his arm tightly, picked up Red X and slammed him down onto the container flat on his back. Red X a pain filled yelp on impact. The creature repeated this move slamming Red X down on his face this time. Again, he groaned in pain. To the creature, this was probably going along the lines of 'tenderizing' its meat.

The creature moved to repeat the slamming Red X again when the thief suddenly raised his palm and shot an x-taser up the creature's face. The immense voltages from the shock of the impact made the creature remove its grip on Red X and concentrate on removing the x on its face. Red X took this opportunity to get back at the creature by running up to it, leaping into the air, and delivering one of his most powerful spin-kicks straight to the creature's face. The creature was propelled back all the way to the edge of the container and fell right off the edge.

At that moment, a truck was passing by carrying on its trailer stacks of plastic crates containing various consumer products. The driver was just minding his own business when suddenly the creature happed to crash right into his cargo with a chaotic noise. The surprised driver was compelled to slam on the breaks and put the truck into a halt.

The driver got out of his truck and turned to look at his trailer and saw the awful mess that was created. "What in the name of all that's holy happened her--"

Before the driver could finish, the creature burst out of the pile of ruble. It stood at its full height and let out a gut-wrenching roar that mad the truck driver turn white with fear. Above hiding between containers, Red X cursed under his breath but he knew this creature would not go down so easily. He needed a better plan to destroy this thing permanently. Where was a 50 megaton atom bomb when you needed it, he thought.

The creature was dazed and, more importantly, irritated. Its prey was peskier that it would've wanted. The creature started snarling in anger and looked to be throwing a slight tantrum which lasted only a few seconds. Red X stayed hidden and observed as much as he could. It looked like, he thought, that somewhere in there, that thing was just like a big baby.

The creature suddenly turned in the direction of the driver. The power of the its glare was enough to bring the driver on his butt and crawling back. He got in the way, the creature thought. This worthless sack of meat got in its way. More snarls as the creature slowly flexed its clawed hands and moved ominously towards the driver. The driver of the truck kept crawling backwards while a wet stain was noticeably forming in his pants. The creature kept approaching, its teeth dripping with its saliva.

Above Red X was getting very alarmed. "Oh, no."

He had to act, otherwise this guy's a goner. Red X prepared a fan of x-bombs in one hand and prepared to throw them at the Kapre's back. He knew it wouldn't kill the thing but if he could just distract him long enough for that guy to—

"Freeze!" exclaimed Derek Kavanagh from the end of the row.

The creature, the truck driver, and Red X stopped whatever they were doing and looked in that direction. At the end of the row were Derek and Han, taking cover behind the open doors of the Impreza and taking aim at the creature with their weapons and also wearing their level 3 vests. Their weapons consisted of a Remington 870 shotgun for Han and an M4 carbine for Derek.

"You!" exclaimed Han. "The really big…black…guy…thing…don't move!"

The creature simply glared back at the two officers who were still had their guns trained on it. It then let out another roar as if to show just how annoyed it was. It followed up by grabbing one of the plastic boxes of the concrete and threw it at the two officers and their car with all the force of a cannon ball. Derek and Han had barely enough time to react before the plastic crate crashed straight through the windshield of the Impreza. Both officers were grounded.

"Shit…" mumbled Red X as he watched this from where he was hiding in the containers. He looked back at the creature. It was looking back at him.

The creature jumped up to where Red X was and at the same time, Red X activated the cloaking device on his belt and disappeared into thin air. The creature found itself without its prey again. The creature looked up and around and saw the Red X was gone. It knew from experience what to do next. It's nostrils twitched a few times then the creature bolted across the stack of containers hot on the trail of its next meal.

Meanwhile, Derek and Han were getting off their butts and rushing towards the downed truck driver. Han knelt down in front of the truck driver to see if he was alright but regressed when the stench coming from the man's pants reached his nose.

"Umm, are you okay, sir?"

"I-I-I'm fine," replied the nervous truck driver. "What was that…thing?!"

"I aim to find out," said Derek. "watch him for me Han."

"What? Hey wait!"

Too late. Derek was already running into the stacks of containers before Han could stop him. Han lightly cursed under his breath. That kid was just too damn headstrong sometimes. He could little more than to follow procedure.

Han grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911.

"911 emergency," answered the operator.

"This is Lieutenant Han Park of the JCPD special units. We have a situation here in the south district docks. I need some back-up and some paramedics just in case. Suspect may be metahuman. Repeat, suspect may be a meta."

"Roger that officer. Anything else you need."

Han looked down at the truck driver and the spot on his pants.

"Some laundry detergent would be nice…"

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

In the stacks of metal crates.

The stacks were like short buildings crowed too close to each other. Within the confined spaces in between the stacks were interconnected alleys that turned the whole space into a large maze. If one didn't know where they were going, one could easily get lost in all the corners and junctions, and so on. Derek was seeing this problem first hand.

As he was running down the length of the alleys his SWAT training kicked in. He kept his weapon trained at all times and moved only with his feet to keep his aim stable. He never went around a corner but instead went sideways into the corner to make sure that his weapon would always be pointing at any potential threat.

However, even with all this kinds of movement, his finger was not touching the trigger. SWAT officers, even though they are known to be the most deadly form of law enforcement, never use lethal force unless as a last resort. They are trained to keep their fingers off the trigger unless they are put in a situation where they have absolutely no choice but to pull it to save their lives or the lives of others.

Derek was an exceptional sharpshooter and close-range gunfighter, especially with his favorite weapon, the M4 carbine. But in his entire career as a part of the police, he could actually count all the incidents where he had to pull the trigger in one hand. He knew killing wasn't the answer. It was almost never the answer.

As he moved with expert movements, he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of that weird thing that attacked the truck driver. At some point he started hearing some thumping noises somewhere above him. It sounded like someone was walking over the containers unlike him who was stuck on the ground. Derek followed the sounds as best he could when he suddenly heard the stomping sound stop and the sound of feet on concrete replace them. More so, the sounds were coming from just around the corner.

Derek kept his rifle up as he turned the corner. He came face to face with the figure of Red X as the master thief was getting up off the ground.

"Freeze!" automatically cried Derek.

Red X turned and showed some surprise to the police officer but didn't seem all that intimidated.

Derek knew who he was looking at. The Red x was one of the top ten most wanted criminals in Jump City. Considered armed and extremely dangerous, just about every cop knew that lethal force was almost encouraged should an officer encounter the suspect. Derek heisted in doing so but he did however, slide his finger into the trigger guard so that if the need arose, he would be able to pull the trigger in less than a heartbeat.

"Put your hands up!" he ordered.

Red X only narrowed his eyes and stayed silent. Who does idiot think he is?

"I said put your hands up! Now!" Derek repeated the order to no avail.

It took Red x only a second to analyze the guy in front of him. His weapon and his vest indicated that this guy had tactical training so it would be an insult to compare him to the usual patrolmen he encountered. His breathing, expression, pupil dilation, muscle movements, all indicated one of expert level. This guy has seen his share of fights before. Red X was far from impressed, though.

Red X could care less about all that at the moment. His only concern was the creature. The Kapre.

"Get out of here," said Red X.

Derek was stunned to hear this guy give _him_ an order. "No way! Put your hands up or I will put you down." To emphasize his point, he lifted the rifle a little higher.

Red X was getting annoyed. With all that yelling, the creature is bound to notice him. Not a good thing.

"Listen," said Red X, "if you don't get out of here now, that thing'll…crap."

_**THUMP!**_

Derek did a complete turn only to see the creature as it landed behind him. The sheer size of the thing was enough to scare the living daylights out of Derek hat his heart skipped a beat. He was rotted to the ground and couldn't move as the creature loomed over him and snarled ominously.

Suddenly, three x-bombs flew across the air and stabbed the creature at both shoulders and the forehead. They all exploded shortly afterwards. The creature was driven back and good long distance away from Derek as he himself was floored by the shockwave of the explosions. Red X was panting. That was a little too close. This guy had to leave otherwise something that was less than pleasant might happen.

"If you don't get out of here now," continued Red X from a while ago, "that thing'll make mince meat out of you. You can't possibly take it on!"

Derek could barely hear any of this as he was struggling to get back up his feet. "W-What is that thing?"

"No time to answer. Just leave before you get hurt!"

A gut-wrenching roar. Both turned to see the creature once again on its feet, unscathed. Red X cursed under his breath while Derek could only stare nervously.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere above them.

Sitting on top of one of the loading cranes, the stranger Red X encountered earlier was merrily giggling as he watched as the events unfold with the addition of the cop.

"And here I thought things couldn't get more interesting."

A communicator inside his jacket started ringing. He fished it out of his jacket pocket and answered. "Ms. Ashford. Have you been well."

"Save the pleasantries _Perudo_," she said. "How are things progressing?"

"Well let's just say I don't think you'll be all too pleased, Ms. Ashford."

"I thought so…You know what to do."

"Understood."

The woman hung up and the stranger, who apparently went by the name Perudo, tucked the communicator away in his pocket. He giggled again like a little child enjoying a game.

"Oh yes, things really are looking more interesting…"

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: Well, here's another chapter down. Next chapter will be a major turning point in the story so be sure to watch out for that. In case you're wondering: _Perudo_ is a name for a Latin American variant of the gambling game known more commonly as Liar's Dice (anyone whose seen the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2 knows what this is). More on Perudo and his past in later chapters. Pls. R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Again, I say…me no own stuff!

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The docks.

"You're gonna be okay, sir," said Han.

He was doing his best to calm the truck driver down who was still in a pretty bad state of shock. Who wouldn't be, Han asked himself. He too saw what the poor truck driver saw and if it only weren't for the number of years he spent on the force, he would've been in a bit of a shock too.

That was the one thing he couldn't get used to. In this new world monsters like that were becoming all too common. A regretful fact. He knew that for the most part that creatures like these were usually taken care of by those with the power to do so. That is why he's always looked up to super heroes. But he knew that even the best among the best couldn't be in all places at the same time. There were still those moments where the common people were left to themselves. Moments where the heroes were away fighting some other important battle and those that most would consider weak had to fend for themselves.

During those moments, somebody usually got hurt.

Han regretted thoughts like this. They were too disheartening. He had to remind himself that this was no reason to loose hope. He himself has seen his share of bad situations. He can make it through this just like all the other times.

"Just wait here for me. I'll be back in a sec, alright?" he said to the driver with as much reassurance in his voice as he can muster without sounding sarcastic.

The driver didn't say anything but the expression on his face alone seemed to scream "please don't leave me!"

Han then moved towards the mess that was the truck. He took a closer look at the mess that was there. Plastic crates were scattered everywhere. The bed of the truck was actually dented, probably from when the creature fell on it like the driver described. Whatever this thing was, it was serious.

Just then, Han felt a drop of water on his cheek. He brought a hand up to wipe it away subconsciously. Then he looked up and stated to feel a few more water droplets on his face and his hands. He looked down to the ground and saw the several dark spots suddenly appear all over the concrete pavement increasing in number rapidly.

Amount later, it started to pour.

The sound of thousands of rain drops hitting the metal containers behind him sounded like some kind of exotic tribal music. Something in that music was soothing to Han but there was also something else there. Something that made him worry.

Han continued to look up at the sky and watched the rain fall from the sky.

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Somewhere in the midst of the stacks of metal containers.

Gunfire erupted in short controlled bursts. The source was Derek's modified M4 Carbine. A little ways in front of him, the Kapre was on the receiving end of his gunfire. Derek emptied all of the magazine's 30 rounds of 5.56mm rounds into the creature. Derek watched as every single bullet found its mark on the creature's body.

The 5.56 round is widely known to be one of the most effective anti-personnel round. Despite being smaller than its predecessor, the 7.62mm round, the 5.56mm has since shown just how much better it is since the Vietnam War. The new round was smaller and lighter and traveled out of the barrel with greater velocity thus it had more range and more penetrating power. Upon penetrating the flesh of its target the round executes a signature "buzz saw" effect where the round fragments into over a dozen shards that tumbled around in the body causing massive internal injury.

Despite that, the creature stood tall, even after being pelted by bullets.

Derek was stunned to say the least. He watched as the creature simply shook off the pain from the shots as if they were nothing but minor itches. He also watched as the bullet holes formed on the creature's flesh seal themselves up to show perfectly smooth skin again.

Derek's attention was drawn to the creature's eyes, which were staring back at him, as if to say that it was annoyed at him. Those blood red eyes seemed to pierce Derek's soul as he found that he couldn't move his feet, or even his hands to reload his rifle. The creature snarled at him, noticing his fear. It took a step closer to him, mouth dripping with drool.

"Didn't I tell you to get out of here?!" exclaimed Red X as he came up from behind Derek.

Red X prepared a fan of x-bombs in one hand and threw them all at the creature. All impacted and exploded, driving the creature back in a stumble. Red X charged forward. Simultaneously, he extended two long x-blades from his upper-wrists. While the creature was distracted, Red X launched a flurry of swings and thrusts with his twin x-blades creating deep gashes in the creature's flesh. Red X knew this wouldn't amount to much in the long run, but if he could just find a weakness…

Without warning, the creature's arm suddenly swung out its arm and knocked Red X into the side of a container hard. Red X fell to the ground, slightly stunned from the impact. The creature moved n quickly and soon had the Thief by his neck. Red X struggled to keep breathing but it was getting more and more difficult as the creature's grip got tighter by the second.

It was at this point when Derek finally snapped out of his little shock episode. He saw the situation in its whole and acted instinctively. With expert hand movements, he ejected the empty clip of his rifle, grabbed a fresh one from the back of his vest and reload his rifle all in less than three seconds. He took sharp aim at the creature's temple and did what the SWAT team calls a double tap, where one pulls the trigger twice in rapid succession.

The two shots nailed the creature close to the ear. The creature suddenly fell to the side from the two shots to its head and let go of Red X who fell back onto his feet. Red X was rubbing his neck and gasping for air.

Derek moved towards Red X. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," replied Red X. "…You should really leave, you know."

"What? I just saved your life!"

"I saved yours first!"

A conversation that was going nowhere. Derek knew this and switched topics. "What is that Thing? Where did it com from?"

"I have no clue."

"I don't believe you!"

"I don't care if you do."

Another conversation that was leading nowhere. Derek was loosing patience and he didn't have a lot to start with. "For all I know that thing tried to kill me, my friend, and some truck driver. You expect me to just back away?"

Red X turned face him completely. "It's after me, alright? I don't know why exactly but its after me and me only and it will plow through anyone in its way! I don't want to involve other people in this. I don't want other people to get hurt. Got it? You need to get out of here now or else that thing will clobber you when it decides you're just too damn annoying, and believe me, you're getting there!"

"I'm JCPD dammit! I can't walk away from something like this!"

"If you don't someone might just have to _drag_ you away--"

They both heard a snarl.

They looked to the side and saw the creature slowly getting back up. The two bullet holes in the side of its head were already sealing themselves up. The creature twitched its head a couple of times then suddenly spit out what looked like two blood-coated bullets from its mouth and onto the wet concrete ground.

"Dammit," said Red X under his breath.

The creature let out a deafening roar towards the two. Derek took a step back subconsciously. The creature then threw its hand towards one of the doors of the container next to it and ripped out the door clean of its steel hinges. The creature held the door like a giant Frisbee and flung it hard towards Red X and Derek. Red X acted quickly.

"Down!" exclaimed Red X as he threw out his arm and tackled Derek down to the ground just as the large metal door flew past above them, nearly missing Derek's head.

Derek had some of the wind knocked out of him from that rough landing. Red X was up and about in less than a second after getting down onto the floor. He turned and saw the creature readying itself to do the same trick with the other remaining door held high above its head. No time to waste, thought the master thief.

Red X shot out both his palms and from his palms he shot out several sticky-x's which flew all the way to the creature's wrists. Upon impact the sticky-x'sconsistency instantly changed to that of a super adhesive rubbery foam substance that the creature could not break its hands out of. The wrecked door of the container was now essentially part of its hands. Red X quickly followed up by launching a grappling line from his gauntlet. The line wrapped around the creature's legs and Red X pulled hard.

The lined pulled the creature's legs from under its feet and caused it to fall on its back. Just as Red X planned, the heavy door fell right on top of the creature, partially crushing it with its weight.

"That won't hold it down for long," said Red X.

He again turned to Derek who was just getting back up onto his feet. The SWAT officer looked with a sense of awe at Red X as the master thief simply glared back. "Tell everyone to stay away," said Red X. "I have to deal with this alone."

With that said, Red X charged towards where the creature was while it was still under the door. Red X jumped on top of the door, slapped one palm down and raised the other to aim up high to launch a grappling line to a crane above him.

"Here's a little something for ya, buddy," said Red X.

He let the grappling line pull his entire weight up onto the crane above and when his other hand left the metal door it revealed an x-bomb stuck to the door. When Red X was clear the explosive detonated.

Part of the Red X suit's main advantages is that it could make just about anything out of xenothium, including complex compound explosives. Red X made this one special. The complex xenothium-based compound that the x-bomb was made of produced a special explosion with a lot of concentrated heat energy instead of the usual shockwave.

After a blinding detonation that forced Derek to look away and hide behind one of the containers, the metal door was all but incinerated. In the immediate vicinity some of the other containers showed signs of melting and the paint was actually burning off of them. Derek peeked around the corner. What he saw almost made him puke.

Even after an explosion that produced the same amount of heat as a bolt of lightning, the creature still stood up, albeit a little shaky. Derek could see that most of the creature's skin was completely burned off and melted pieced of the door had bonded to its exposed flesh, still red hot. It was bleeding profusely. Streams of thick, rust-colored blood were pouring from open wounds and the creature's mouth. Derek could see that the expression on the creature's face was one of pure rage.

"Hey!" exclaimed Red X from above, grabbing the creature's attention. "up here!"

The creature, though totally unfamiliar with the name, took as an insult anyway and let out a roar. It ignored the pain it was feeling in its flesh and started to speedily bound up the metal containers and started to move towards the crane.

Red X for his part saw that everything was going according to plan. Move the creature away, get it alone with you and take it out while keeping others out of the way. Red X was already moving. A moment ago he had already seen an ideal place to take their fight to. A cargo ship was docked and the crew was gone for one reason or another. Whatever it was, that's where Red X decided to go. He was sure he'd have a plan by then.

As the Red X left towards the empty ship and the creature followed, down bellow Derek had watched them leave. He recalled Red X's words to him. Red X told him to leave.

"Like hell I will," he said.

Derek's feet moved instantly, splattering the water on the ground with every step. He seemed to know where the two wee heading as was determined to meet them there. He didn't notice that the rain was getting stronger.

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Somewhere close by.

Han did notice however as his shirt under his bulletproof vest was getting soaked. He was now moving across the maze of metal containers, lost as ever. But he kept on moving, even when standard procedure dictated that he stay where he was and wait for back-up to arrive. But he simply couldn't wait. He was getting too worried about his friend, Derek who he had yet to see.

With the tip of his shotgun raised Han moved through the many alleys and avenues of the stacks around him, hoping he wasn't too late.

Meanwhile, somewhere above them on another one of the number of cranes that were all over the dock, Perudo was watching intently as the situation developed and a thoughtful expression was forming on his face.

"Too many players on the board," he said. "I guess its time to even the odds for our little pet…"

He picked up a device that was strapped onto his belt. It looked like a small PDA of some kind. He turned into on and eyed the display on the screen. The display was that of a humanoid figure's outline in green lines along with a bright green text that displayed the message: "D level"

Perudo moved his fingers across the touch screen expertly. Soon the humanoid outline started to change its shape ever so slightly. The green text now read a new message: "C level"

Perudo grinned. "Now the fun begins…"

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On the empty cargo ship.

Red X jumped onto a narrow walkway on top of the boom of one of the cranes near the bridge of the ship. Unlike the previous cranes, this one in particular was one of the more massive ship loading gantry cranes. Instead of an arm like most cranes, this one had its hoist mounted to a trolley that went back and forth on a horizontal boom.

He turned around to notice that the creature was no longer on his tail. He looked at the docks. Nothing was there under the light of the lamps. He looked down towards the deck of the ship below. The deck was empty of all life and the cargo holds, carrying stacks of containers which contained some dried goods, were totally silent.

Red X got a little worried. "Where the hell…"

Just then he felt a vibration on the crane's arm. He turned behind him and there was his adversary. Large parts of its skin were still burnt and it had yet to heal fully. Red X could even see steam coming up from it flesh as the rain water showered over it. Red X grinned a bit as he noticed the creature's expression of pain. Still mortal after all.

"Alright then," he said, "time for you and me to finish thi--"

The creature suddenly convulsed. It started letting out noises which were completely unnatural, even for it. Red X's grin left him as he was fixated on watching this creature as it twitched and convulsed uncontrollably.

Then the changes started to occur. First, the ridges on the creature's head and back started to extend into spikes. The muscles on its arm began to pulsate. From where he stood, Red X could actually hear bones breaking then realigning themselves. Its arms started to grow longer until the palms were past the knees. The claws started to extend until they were all two inches in length. From the creature's knuckles, bone started to penetrate from the skin and form sharp-looking spikes. Another large bone grew right out of the side of the forearm. Red X saw that the outer part of this new bone was razor-sharp.

When the creature looked up at Red X, he saw that the creature's jaw had extended forwards forming a kind of snout. And when the creature roared at him, he could've sworn the number of teeth inside its mouth doubled. From where he stood Red X could make out a very putrid stench coming from the creature.

"And I thought this guy was ugly before…" Red X said to himself with a hint of concern.

The creature charged at him it what seemed to be a slightly quicker burst of speed than before. It started swinging its longer arms with the new blades made of bone out at the master thief. Red X had to jump backwards repeatedly in order to avoid being slashed. One slash of the creature went high and nearly decapitated Red X had he not ducked. The creature followed up by swinging down the other hand. Red X flipped backwards just in time as the creature's claws dug into the floor of the walkway.

When the creature pulled its hand up, the arm whipped to the side and the blade at the side of its forearm slashed right through the guard rail. Red X took a quick second and looked back to see that he was running out of space to back up to. He turned to see the creature moving steadily towards him. He felt himself getting nervous as the creature closed the distance between them. He felt his breathing intensify. The adrenaline was surging in his veins. Fight or flight.

Red X forced himself to calm down. He had to force his own heart to slow down. He wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't allow the fear to take over him. The fear was there but it was not his boss. He has been through so much in the past, this is cakewalk.

Fear will not rule him, he told himself.

No way was he going to be beaten by some Jason Voorhees wannabe this night. Red x extended a couple of x-blades on his wrists and met the creature head on.

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Meanwhile, below.

Derek had managed to track down the two fighters and was making his way towards the gigantic ship crane. He came to one of the legs of the crane where there was an access ladder to reach the operator's booth above. He took a moment to look up and spotted the creature and Red X dueling it out gladiator style on the walkway. He noted that there seemed to be something new in the creature's shape. But with the rain now pouring, it was hard to see up that high.

He started climbing the ladder up to the top. His physical fitness training made sure he was more than capable of doing so. However, halfway up the wet steps of the ladder got to him and his footing slipped. Ha managed only to avoid falling the whole three stories down when his hand managed to grab onto the next rung on the ladder.

The near fall shook him up for a bit. Derek sucked it in. he won't be beaten by this, he told himself. He regained his footing on the ladder and started to move up again.

As he climbed the weight of the M4 strapped to his back seemed to increase only slightly. He finally reached the top of the ladder and got off onto the railing at the top of the crane. He looked at where he was and checked where his two targets were. He saw them on the boom of the crane still fighting it out, with the Red X slowly loosing ground to the creature.

Derek got down onto the railing of the crane and made ready his M4 rifle. He took aim at the creature on the other side of the massive crane and found that a shot was impossible as the rain was actually getting stronger and was messing with his scope. He lowered his rifle in frustration. He had to get closer and take better aim there. He looked down directly from where he was standing. The boom was right below him.

It took him about five seconds to decide what he would do next.

He slung the rifle over his shoulder and climbed over the safety railing. Carefully he dropped himself down onto the boom. It was a short jump down and upon making contact, he actually lost his footing when he slipped again on wet metal. He nearly slipped off the edge but again managed to save his own skin by grabbing at a metal pipe.

He pulled himself back up made sure his footing was secure this time. He took the rifle from his shoulder and aimed at the creature and was surprised that he was actually trying to avoid aiming at Red X. He still couldn't get a good aim since those two were moving around too much.

But soon, things turned bad for one of the fighters. Derek saw Red x take a heavy blow and was smacked down onto the railing. The master thief was slightly stunned and wasn't getting up in a hurry. The creature towered over him as if deciding on the final blow. Derek acted instantly. And fired snapshots towards the creature's temple. The bullets made impact. The creature stumbled for a bit then it turned to look at Derek with raging eyes.

Derek saw the creature look at him and his heart skipped a beat. But he shrugged it off, switched his M$ to full-auto mode and pressed the trigger down. In the span of a few seconds, he emptied the clip into the creature's chest and head. When he was empty, his hands reloaded his rifle with a clip from his back vest pocket in less than two seconds. The creature snarled at him as it was bleeding from the number of bullet holes and suddenly started to move towards Derek.

Derek stood his ground and emptied another clip into the creature. The creature stumbled a bit but still kept going after him. Derek reloaded and started firing away his third clip already, this time taking time to aim amajotiry of the bullets towards the creature's legs. He tactic worked and the created tripped and fell forward on its knees giving Derek times to pelt its chest and head with more ammo.

As the creature was snarling in pain, Derek reached for his fourth clip but soon found a rather distressing problem: his pockets were empty. He had spent all his rifle ammo already. To prevent himself from panicking he let his training kicked in. He turned his head away to allow the sling of his rifle to be easier pulled over it. He let his rifle drop to the floor and he quickly reached into another holster at the side of his vest and pulled out his standard Beretta M9 pistol.

He looked up and another distressing problem presented itself: the creature was gone. His eyes went wide. Red X was the only one Derek could see and he was already getting up, albeit a little shaky. Derek made a motion to move towards him and help him out when he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

He could smell it. It was so close that he could actually smell its putrid scent. Derek let instinct take over and swung around as fast as he could to try and get as many shots as he can with his pistol. But he was nowhere near quick enough. The creature's arm was a lot faster and I swiped at Derek right in the rib cage with its massive claws and with the force of a wrecking ball.

Derek felt the claws penetrated his vest and his skin. His breath left his body in one big cough that hurt his throat. His feet left the metal floor below him. Before he knew it, he was flying. Red X gained his senses in time to see the officer fly over his head. Derek flew past the edge of the cranes boom and plummeted towards the water.

Derek's body impacted the water and created a huge splash. At that same moment, Han had finally found his way through the container stacks and emerged at the edge of the docks in time to see his friend hit the water. Han didn't know how but even from that distance he could tell it was his friend that fell into the ocean that moment.

"Derek!!" he exclaimed.

He dropped his shotgun and ran to the water. He dove into the water as he was trained to do and swam as quickly as he could. Derek's body was sinking as it was and when Han reached him he had to dive down into the water to get him back up. He held him by the armpits and, as his training dictated, kept the head above the water. Han somehow managed to swim back to the pier and climb up an access ladder carrying Derek's ragdoll body. Han placed Derek's body on the wet concrete of the pier.

"Derek, can you hear me?" asked Han.

No response. Derek's eyes were open but completely empty of any life.

Han went to his first aid mode. He put his cheek right next to Derek's nose to check if he was breathing. He wasn't and he could hear some slight gurgling from the nose. He then put two fingers against the jugular to check a pulse. There was a pulse but it was so weak that he barely felt it. Han thought about doing the Heimlich maneuver but when he saw the amount of blood coming out of Derek's cloathing he froze suddenly not knowing what to do.

"Help!!" Han exclaimed. "Somebody help me!"

No one answered. Han only got even more lost.

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Meanwhile above.

Red X was looking down on the situation below over the edge of the crane's boom. He felt his arms go limp and his legs weaken suddenly. His breathing slowed as a feeling of regret flooded over him. He flet like he could just fall to his knees right then and there.

But then he heard it.

The creature snarled at him. Red X looked and saw the creature still recovering from the almost one hundred bullet wounds it sustained and was taking time to heal itself. Then the guilt and regret washed away. A new feeling took place. Anger, rage, call it what you will. Red X closed both his plasma into tight fists at his side. Under the mask he clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly two x-blades popped out of his gauntlets. "You wanna dance, tough guy?..."

The creature snarled back in response.

Red X stood ready. "C'mon! Let's dance asshole!"

The creature charged and Red x was ready to meet it.

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Author's not. Sorry for the slightly late update. Way too much stuff got in the way. Well, I hope to get the next chap in a little quicker. Please R&R in the meantime.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and thus you can't sue me! (I think)

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On top of the ship loading crane.

The rain seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. It was really pouring now. There was already a few lightning bolts flashing in the distance and the sound of thunder rumbled in the air from time to time. But even as the downpour reached its fuller strength, the master thief ignored the cold water that drenched the outer surface of his suit.

He was too focused on the task at hand: surviving.

Without a doubt, this creature—this Kapre—was one of the most ferocious enemies that Red X has ever faced. And he's been around the block a lot. Not even the Titans, all of them combined, were ever this much of a hassle. Red X could count the times were he faced true fear in battle in one hand and two fingers were already gone to this thing.

But somewhere, on a level that even Red X couldn't define, he was enjoying this. This is the kind of moment that he lived for. The kind of moment that took him to the edge and gave him a chance to laugh back at death. He will survive.

The creature charged at Red X with a flurry of hand swipes that threatened to rip the head off of the master thief with just one hit. Red X was nimble enough to continuously evade all these attacks while moving backwards, urging the creature forward. Red X waited until an opportune moment arrived when the creature awkwardly fell forward in a wide slash with its wrist blades.

Red X changed direction and jumped over the creature by pushing the creature's head down into the metal with one hand and shot an x-taser with the other straight into the creature's back.

Red X cleared the creature just as the x-taser on its back activated sending thousands of volts into the creature's flesh, enough to boil the skin off a man but only enough to cause some considerable irritation to the creature. Red X flipped with gymnastic expertise and stopped in a crouch. Instantly he generated three more x-tasers in one hand.

"More where that came from, buddy," wryly commented Red X.

He threw the rest of the x-tasers towards the creature. This was part of his new strategy now: try and overwhelm the creature. He knew this thing could recover from serious injuries, but from what he saw in the past hour, that process still took time. Something he could take advantage of and Red X had plenty of xenothium energy stored in the core before he needed to let the suit recharge itself.

The three x-tasers hit the creature and delivered more and more volts of pure electricity into the creature's system. The creature was having a hard enough time getting up because of this and instead, while on its knees, started to rip the x-taser odd its skin. Red x followed up by throwing more of the electrified projectiles until the creature was literally cooking in its own body. But red X knew this wasn't enough. He needed to drive a more aggressive punch.

"You feel that, buddy?" asked Red X.

The creature only returned a look of contempt.

"No? well you're definitely gonna feel this!"

Red X charged head-on towards the creature with the speed of a professional Olympic sprinter. He jumped into the air and delived a very powerful spin kick straight into the creature's jaw. The creature, stumbled back a few feet. Red X didn't stop. He kept on charging, jumping, and kicking until the creature was all the way to the edge of the crane's boom. With one last kick, Red X sent the Kapre over the edge and falling over three stories down onto the cargo ship's metal deck somewhere near the bow.

Red x could've sworn he heard bones break even from way up there. But now was not the time to dawdle. Red X turned on his cloaking device and disappeared into thin air. Meanwhile, the creature was struggling to get back up, its regenerative abilities already mending its multitude of wounds. It managed to get back up on its two feet. It was breathing heavily, tired and irritated. The healing process was not working fast enough for the creature's preference as he could still feel the pain of all that hurting.

"Hey!"

The creature turned his head in time to see Red X swipe away with his hand. The attack caused a deep gash to form on the creature's chest and as it looked at its supposed prey, it found out why. Spinning off the top of Red X's wrist were twin x-blades rotating like buzz saws. Red X charged again, slashing at the creature once more, driving it towards the very bow of the ship, just as Red X planned.

The creature made some attempts to counter-attack. It swiped at Red X twice with its massive claws. The first strike was low and was evaded by jumping over. The second strike went high and was evaded by ducking down. While crouched, Red X swung his buzz saw x-blade upwards and slashed the creature's arm with a deep gash.

The Kapre howled in pain and drew its arm back as the gash sprayed blood all over the deck that washed away with the rain water. Red X finished it by suddenly launching the two large spinning x-blades at the creature and both blades dug deep into its flesh driving the creature towards the bow even more. The creature stumbled back right onto the port-bow anchor chain and nearly tripped backwards.

Red X watched as the creature came to a stop, panting and heaving in pain trying to recover from its wounds, Red X could already see some of the gashes sealing themselves up. However, he also saw that one of the creature's legs somehow managed to step inside one of the massive chain links holding the anchor to the ship. In an instant, an idea flashed in the master thief's mind.

Red X threw both his hand forward and shot out a number of sticky-x projectiles that hit the part of the leg where the creature was stepping through the chain link. The sticky-x's melded together in a gooey red solution that formed arounf the leg and the chain link before solidifying into a compound harder than the steel around it.

The creature looked down noticed that its foot was now stuck onto the chain link. It looked back up to see Red X move to another part of the anchor chain so that the creature was in between Red X and the edge of the ship. As Red X looked back at the creature as if he was grinning at it, the creature soon realized what its prey was up to. In that same instant it was already trying desperately to yank its foot out of the chain and it even tried to claw away at the xenothium based cement that was holding its foot in place but the material was too tough, even for it.

Red X took his time, allowing himself a small bit of pleasure at watching the creature squirm where it stood. He placed a hand on the chain link in front of him and a pulse of xenothium energy fluctuated through the chain link. The creature looked up as this happened. Red X also looked it straight in the eye.

"Say hello to Davy Jones for me," Red X off-handedly commented

The creature gave out an angry growl.

The large metal link disintegrated a second later. With nothing holding onto the ship any longer, the port-side anchor plummeted into the deep waters of the bay, the chain that held the creature followed soon after. The creature's feet were naturally pulled from under it and it fell forward on its face. It tried to stop itself by clawing at the deck as it slid but the weight of the anchor and the rest of the chain could not be stopped. It slipped right out of the hole where the chain was fed and the creature plunged into the deep waters of the ocean below.

The commercial bays of Jump City were famous for the fact that the waters around it were very deep unlike most other ports where the water was shallower as it reached land. This fact made docking extremely large ships lick cargo ships and merchant vessels a much easier task. The way down all the way to the bottom was well over fifty stories down.

As it plunged deeper and deeper into the dark and murky waters, the creature felt the increasing water pressure start to crush its body. Every second of its trip down only multiplied the agony. There was no way for it to escape, after about half-way down, the creature's lungs gave way and what ever air it was holding was al gone, replaced by seawater.

For tonight, its hunt was over.

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On the docks.

The rain was finally subsiding. And, for Derek's sake, the paramedics have also finally arrived. The haul his unconscious body onto the plastic spine board for fear that he might have broken his back. With sirens wailing, the ambulance sped off to the nearest hospital. Han was left there, standing in his drenched clothes. He watched as his friend and colleague be taken away in an ambulance, something no cop ever wants to see.

Without really thinking about it, Han reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number. The phone rang twice before the recipient answered.

"Hello?" came Jill's voice.

"Jill," he said with a shaky voice. "It's me, Han."

"I know it's you, Han. I read the caller ID."

Han didn't respond in any way to that. He remained silent but his heavy breathing was transmitting through the phone's receiver. Something Jill picked up on.

"Han, is there something wrong?" she said with a more serious tone.

"It's, um…It's Derek."

"What happened?"

"He's hurt."

"…How bad?"

Han didn't answer back. But that in and of itself was all the answer Jill needed.

Above, standing on top of the cargo ship's crow's nest, Red X watched as this scene unfolded right in front of him. Whatever he was feeling, he wasn't all that sure about it anymore. Was it guilt? Did he feel guilty about this? Or was it just grief?

He didn't know and he didn't care. All he knew was that that cop didn't deserve what happened to him. He was not supposed to be there when that thing came. There was nothing that could make him deserve such a fate. It wasn't that guy's fault. Was it Red X's? That was the question he wanted answer then and there. Could he have prevented this? Did he have the ability? Or was it just bad luck?

"Dammit!!" Red X cursed loudly. But at the distance he was at, nobody on the ground heard him.

He slammed his fist at the rail of the crow's nest repeatedly in frustration until his hand hurt. He breathed heavily. "Why did this have to happen?" he asked to no one in particular. "This was supposed to be my fight and my fight alone, right? Why the hell is there a fight for me in the first place?"

He calmed down somewhat. He looked back down at the scene bellow. The cop was now joined by a few other cops that just arrived. Probably to secure the area and collect some sort of evidence. Unlucky for them but the rain probably washed away most, if not all, the evidence by now. They won't find anything here tonight wo0rth looking at. But Red X on the other hand already had something.

He reached with his hand and patted the pocket of his belt which contained the dried blood sample of the creature. It was enough to go on for now.

Someone was behind this. He was sure of that now. Someone was pulling the puppet strings backstage. He had to know who and he had to finish this before it gets more out of hand that it already is.

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In the distance.

Perudo, sitting on top one of the loading cranes in the middle of the port, zoomed in with his hi-tech goggles/mask. He watched Red X as he now stood at the crow's nest of the cargo ship still continuing to look at the scene where the cop was taken away by the ambulance. A satisfied smile curved from Perudo's lips.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

Red X didn't answer since he was at about a hundred meters away.

"Are you sad that that guy took a beating?" Perudo continued. "Well it can't be helped can it? He was not a player but he tried to get into the game anyway. You even told him not to come but would he listen?"

He giggled to himself in a twisted sense of amusement. Red X continued to simply look down onto the ground where a growing number of officers were gathering. Perudo decided to follow Red X's lead and look down onto the scene below as well. He recognized Han among the officers. Han seemed shaken. Perudo seemed to take humor in this.

"Well…then again, what's a game if not for a few non-player characters here and there?" He chuckled to himself.

Perudo then turned his sight back to where Red X was standing. The smile on his face quickly faded. Red X was no longer looking at the scene on the docks. Instead, Red X was looking right at him.

At first, Perudo simply thought that Red X was only looking at something else in between them or maybe even behind him but the more he looked the more he was sure it was him that Red X was looking at. A drop of sweat formed on his temple. Red X seemed to pierce him with his stare. Perudo found that he couldn't move form his spot.

Perudo saw Red X bring a hand to his belt then activate his cloaking device and disappeared into thin air. Perudo quickly switched vision modes on his mask to try and find Red X but he was no longer there to be found. Perudo had a feeling that the master thief has retired for the night.

Perudo laughed nervously. "What a guy…hehe…what a guy…"

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Later, in the emergency room.

The mood in the room was beyond Hectic. Derek's body laid on the operating table, bare-chested and unconscious. Around his body, dozens of people on green gowns, caps, and face masks frantically went back and forth across the room getting whatever tool for what ever reason, all of which was aimed to save his life, or what's left of it.

"Where's my blood!" exclaimed the head doctor. "This guy is drying up!"

"Here it is, doctor!" exclaimed a nurse as she hooked up the fresh blood pack to the IV.

"How's his breathing?" asked the head doctor.

"What breathing?" asked another nurse sarcastically.

"Quick, put him on the respirator!"

"Got it!"

The nurse turned to a machine at the corner of the room and pulled it next to the operating table. She took the face mask at the end of a long plastic tube and pressed the mask against Derek's nose and mouth. She turned the machine on and pumps started to bring fresh oxygen into Derek's lungs y force, keeping him alive.

"We need to close up these gashes," said he head doctor. They all started to work on the deep gashes in his chest, checking for internal injuries, then stopping the blood flow by quickly stitching up the gashes. Suddenly the vital signs monitor next to Derek let out a long beep. The doctors looked up and were alerted immediately.

"He's flat-lining!" exclaimed the head doctor. "The defibrillator, quickly!"

The defibrillator was next to him in an instant. The doctor took the two paddles while a nurse turned on the machine. The doctor put the two paddles onto Derek's chest.

"Clear!"

A massive shock was delivered to Derek's body. His heart beat once but flat-lined again.

"One more. Clear!"

Another massive shock. This time, three irregular beats, then nothing.

"C'mon…Clear!"

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Outside the operating room.

Han was sitting on the bench, nervously clasping his hands together and rubbing his thumbs against each other. The tension he was feeling was incomparable to anything he had ever felt before. Not even those crazy hostage situations were like this. And he could only imagine how more tense he would feel when Jill arrived. A moment after he thought that, Jill did arrive.

The doors in the hallway bust open and Jill walked in dressed in what she wore to the mall earlier that day and carrying a paper shopping bag. It was more than obvious that she was out of breath. Han stood up to greet her as she ran up to him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure, Jill."

"Weren't you there?"

Han sighed in frustration. No, he wasn't there, at least not with Derek. "Derek ran off by himself while I stayed with that truck driver to see if he was okay. I tried to go after him but I lost track of where he was and where I was. By the time I saw, he…"

Jill was holding back her nervousness. Her lips were visibly shaking.

"There was something there, Jill," continued Han.

"Something?"

"Something not human. I'm not sure what it was but…It did this to Derek. And it almost hurt a civilian. This is not as simple as it looks, Jill."

"A meta-human?"

"Meta, yes. Human, I'm not sure anymore."

Just then, the doors to the operating room opened and the head doctor walked out. Han and Jill were both considerably alarmed by the amount of blood on his gown. The doctor was no longer wearing his cap and face mask. That meant the operation was over and that there was nothing else he could do. That meant either a bad thing or a good thing and Jill prayed it wasn't the former.

"Are you his family?" asked the doctor.

"I'm his friend," answered Han. "She's his sister." He pointed to Jill.

"How's my brother?" Jill asked in the calmest voice she could manage.

"He's fine," said the doctor, "but that's relative. The way he came in here, he could have ended up a lot worse."

"What do you mean?"

"He has some pretty deep gashes on his chest and he lost a lot of blood through them. So much that he went to cardiac arrest at one point. He also sustained some internal injuries and some broken ribs. We have managed to stitch up all his wounds though so that stopped any hemorrhaging. But he still went through a lot of trauma. For now, his condition is stable and it looks like it'll remain that way for a while. I can't tell you when he'll regain consciousness but you should be at least thankful that your brother is alive."

Jill didn't know if she was more relived or more worried. Han felt relived. After seeing what that thing could do, Derek was lucky enough as is.

"Will keep him here," said the doctor. "We'll monitor his vitals and keep you updated."

The doctor went back into the operating room. Han and Jill were now along in the hallway again. Jill suddenly collapsed to her knees. Han quickly noticed and knelt down himself so that he could support her. He noticed the shopping bag as well and took a quick peek. It was instantly obvious what it was.

"I was supposed to give this to him tomorrow," said Jill, referring to the bag. "Right after the ceremony." She was holding back tears now.

"Don't worry, Jill," said Han trying to comfort her. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I promise."

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The next day.

Murakami High School was one of the most prestigious schools in the city and thus had some of the best facilities a student can ask for. One kind of facility worth mentioning was the science labs where students taking science classes spent half their class time in. The labs were packed with high-tech equipment that was either donated by other people or bought by the school.

There were three labs in total: Physics, Biology, and Chemistry. Each lab had different instruments to suit that particular field the lab served for. For now, there were no classes and the labs were supposed to be empty.

_Supposed _to be but not empty.

Normally, students aren't allowed to use such advanced facilities without the direct supervision of a teacher and with good enough reason. However, Nick had sort of developed a reputation being the top-ranking genius student that he was without him intending for it to happen. He really didn't care so much that he was generally labeled as such as his smarts come natural to him but every now and then there come times when Nick was happy about this reputation of his. It allowed him to get away with some minor stuff.

Under the guise of working on an independent science project, Nick managed to get permission from the faculty in charge to use the Chemistry lab. Nobody questioned him on it since they all trusted him. So there he was in the chemistry lab, sitting in front of the table with two instruments on the table: A microscope and a spectroscope.

He took the plastic test tube from his pocket containing the dried blood of the creature. He took a glass test tube from a nearby rack and transferred some of the fine grains of dried blood into it. Then using a set of solutions on hand Nick turned the dried blood sample into a liquid sample that he could work with. He put a bit of the sample onto a glass slide to be used on the microscope. He looked through the eyepiece at the scope's lowest level of magnification. From that point the blood looked similar to animal blood except for the pigment giving it a darker rust color. Nick turned the objective turret to a higher magnification. Now he could see individual red blood cells in a little more detailed. They were weird, just as he suspected in that they were bigger than the average human or animal blood cell. He also didn't see any white blood cells instead he saw small dark red cells. He concluded that these weird cells were probably responsible for the dark color.

He focused on one of these unknown cells and switched to a higher magnification. He could see the cell was almost hexagonal in shape with straight cell walls. Cell _walls?_This struck hum as weird. Cells like this are not found on animals. They are only found in plants. They couldn't be foreign debris either.

He needed to find out what these cells were. He turned his attention to the spectroscope. But first he needed to do something in order to isolate the cells. He turned to another machine at another table, a centrifuge. He put the test tube in the centrifuge and turned the thing on. It started to spin at a rapid pace, using centrifugal force to separate the different substances based on mass. In a matter of minutes he sample was ready again.

Nick carefully took out the tube and looked at what happened to the liquid. It had separated into different layers and he found what he needed at the top layer. He extracted that part and that part alone using a special pipette and then moved the sample into a small, square, glass cuvet. He then put the cuvet into the sample compartment of the spectrometer.

The spectrometer was computerized so all Nick had to do was to tweak a few settings and turn the machine on. Within a minute, the work was done and the machine sent the data into a printer. The printout came slower than the actual results which made Nick a little bit anxious.

"Now, let's see what you're made of…" he said off-handedly.

He took the printout and read the results. His eyes went wide. He almost dropped the paper in shock.

"No way…!"

He knew it would come out as something different, something unusual. But what he saw in the results blew his mind away. If anyone else looked at what he was seeing all they would see was a bunch of graphs and numbers that were the chemical signature of some unknown molecule. But to Nick, it was no unknown molecule. He knew exactly what that chemical signature was. It was something he found out from a test he did months earlier before this whole fiasco started.

The chemical signature was that of xenothium.

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Author's note: Not much to say except please R&R. But I guess we revealed one of the Kapre's mysteries. Hope this keeps you guys interested. See you next time.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't _pwn_ anything.

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Murakami High School.

It was Friday, still a little early in the afternoon but most classes were already over. In one of the classrooms, Tara and her two friends, Mandy and Christy, were the last ones to leave the classroom at the end of the day. They had stay behind to discuss some group work related topics so that they can finalize their assignments. With the work done, all three decided to simply stay behind and have a chat, as girls usually do.

They talked about the usual gossip and stuff as girls usually do. For the moment, Mandy was talking about her crush for the month, some guy on the varsity basketball team. As usual they were lively about it. Except for Tara whose mind was slightly occupied by other things but she still managed to keep up with the conversation. But it didn't take long for her friends to notice this.

"What's up with you, girl?" asked Mandy.

Tara snapped out of it. "What do you mean?"

"You're zoning out a lot today."

"Was I? I hadn't noticed."

"That's the point of zoning out."

"Well, I guess I was just thinking of too much stuff just now."

"Anything wrong?" asked Christy. You're acting like that weird green kid is stalking you again."

"No, nothing's wrong."

"You sure?"

"Well…"

"You know you can talk to us about it."

Tara hesitated in answering her back what she was feeling. To tell the truth was that she was thinking about Nick. Looking back she thought a lot about Nick over the course of the day, simply because she hadn't seen him all day that day. Plus their last meeting the day before left a bad taste.

She was worried, plain and simple. Last night, he was probably out again, wearing the suit. Did he try to go after that thing that hurt him the other night? What could that thing be anyway? How dangerous was it that it was able to get Nick that riled up about it? These, among several others, were questions that continuously kept circulating in her head. She couldn't help but worry for him. She had to.

"Boy troubles?" wryly asked the other girl, Christy.

Tara almost jumped. "What?"

"Is Nick giving you trouble?"

"No, of course not! Nick would never do that to me!"

Both girls giggled at the way Tara defended Nick so quickly. Tara blushed slightly.

"You really do like him do you?" asked Mandy.

"Of course she does," said Christy on her behalf.

"Will you guys knock it off," Tara replied annoyed. "What goes on between Nick and me is none of your business."

Mandy smiled wryly. "None of our business? It's not troubles in_ bed _is it?"

Tara blushed even more and almost slid her seat back away from the two. That was a subject she didn't like to get on. She knew that Nick was special to her. Special enough that she willingly gave herself to him that one night they first became a couple. One night of unbridled passion stemming from a rollercoaster of emotions some moments before. It was by no means a choice she regretted in any way. But that was it. Nick had been a perfect gentleman since then to the point that it sort of annoyed Tara a bit. They had been going out for a while now and Nick never asked for it again.

Tara was finally annoyed enough to go and ask him. She remembered that time a couple of weeks back when she got up the nerve to ask. Nick was a little surprised at the question at the time and nearly spit out what he was eating but when he saw the serious face on Tara he couldn't help but giggle slightly.

"Didn't think you wanted to do it that much," he said.

"I never said that!" she said to him back trying to keep it at low volume so that the other people around them didn't catch the conversation.

"They why ask me?"

"I'm just wondering why you never asked me about it again, that's all."

"Well, I don't want to force you if you don't want to. Plus, I'm trying to be responsible for you. What kind of a guy would I be if I just keep asking you for _that_? No way. I'm not that guy. You're too important to me, Tara. No way would I ever pressure you into a position you don't want to be in."

Tara blushed at this. "I see…Thanks, Nick."

Nick nodded to her. A little later Tara asked him another question though since something still bothered her a bit. "I still want you to tell me. Do you want to do it?"

"Of course I do," Nick answered without hesitation. "I'm a gentleman, not impotent."

A vein popped-up on her temple and Tara responded by taking a napkin, balling it up, and throwing it at his face.

That was the last time they touched the subject and she's been sort of avoiding it ever since. Nick, keeping to being a gentleman, stayed away from the topic unless she brought it up first and he seemed genuinely contented by just being with her.

Back at the present, Tara was now finding it hard to answer the question her friends threw at her even though she knew that the honest answer was a simple no. She went with that.

"No, it's not those kinds of troubles!" she said matter-of-factly.

Her friend's giggle some more but seemed to accept her answer as truth. Tara continued to blush away for some time.

"But still," said Christy, "When was the last time he took you out?"

"We go out all the time."

"No, I mean when he really takes you out, like in a fancy place, or a club or something."

"Well, not really. For one thing I never really liked being that fancy. Country-girl attitude I guess." Tara remembered that Nick once described her to have a bit of a country-girl like quality to her. She wasn't offended by it and instead thought it fit her.

"Still, it's his job as your guy to do something like that every now and then," said Mandy.

"I'm fine just with being with him," said Tara , "I wouldn't want Nick to waste too much money on me."

"Wish you could've told me that earlier," said Nick

The three girls turned to the door to see Nick standing there holding two slips of paper on his hand.

"These tickets were pretty expensive, you know," said Nick with a slight smile on his face. "Not to mention that reservation at the restaurant I made. Heck, I even borrowed my mom's new car for tonight."

The girls looked genuinely surprised. Tara most of all. "What did you say?"

"Well it is my job as your guy to do something like this every now and then…or at least that's what I heard Mandy said right after I just got here."

Tara was a bit flabbergasted and couldn't think of anything to say. Mandy and Christy were exchanging looks and slight giggles and smiles. Nick simply stood in the doorway waiting for Tara's answer to which he knew what already but he still enjoyed the expression on her face.

"You don't want to go?" asked Nick.

"Huh? No! I never said that! It's just that that…well, I wasn't really expecting this, that's all. Are you serious?"

"Of course I am. Just you, me, and all the allowance I managed to save for the week to blow off. But if you don't want to go tonight we could always go some other time."

Tara wanted to say yes and she would had she not been so flattered by the seemingly simple gesture that she was again a little hesitant to answer. Good thing Mandy and Christy were there to answer for her.

"Of course she wants to go!" answered Mandy.

"Just give us a minute," said Christy, moving to Nick and gently pushing him out the door. "We'll get her all dolled up for you, Nick. Wait outside."

Once Nick was out of the classroom, Christy shut the door. Nick moved a bit closer to hear the two girls giggle continuously as they started up a conversation that generally embarrassed Tara, judging by the sound of her denials of whatever they were suggesting. They were probably taking out their make up kits from their bags or something, Nick thought. He stood by the door, looking at the two movie tickets in his hand. It was to a movie that Tara once mentioned she wanted to see.

It was a good thing the glass at the door was frosted so that they couldn't see Nick's face turn a bit sour. The smile he showed the three girls was gone from his face. The expression was something else now, something with a little less enthusiasm.

Nick couldn't tell Tara what brought this up. On a normal basis, he would simply take her out to wherever she wanted to go on a Friday night. But tonight, he made the extra effort to have a more special kind of date with her. He even went to the trouble of asking his Mom to borrow her S2000. And of course, his mom was ever so accommodating to the point that it annoyed him.

He couldn't tell her that it was because of that cop. That cop he saw take the plunge into the ocean then be rescued only in the nick of time. That cop who almost lost his life for what could be the most stupid of reasons. It took something that tragic for him to realize something this obvious. He wished he could just go up and tell her how much she really meant to him. How much he wanted to keep her by his side. How much he wanted to always be there for her. That was the promise he gave her.

But because of recent events, somewhere at the back of his mind, he was wondering whether he could keep that promise to her for very long.

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JCPD Headquarters.

Inside the locker room, Jill Kavanagh was suiting up into her flight suit. They were on assignment that day. Cobra Two was to act as an aerial escort for a special convoy carrying diplomats who were to attend a summit meeting that night in Jump City. Cobra Two was the direct escort that would follow the convoy while the rest of the unit would fly patrol routes across the city.

All fine and dandy. This was nothing new to Jill and Han. They had flown this kind of mission a few times in the past both in training and on actual assignments. If they were lucky nothing would happen until the summit was over and they could just go home by midnight.

She was supposed to be at the roof top by now, getting into her Apache. But she was still in the locker room, taking ten minutes to lace up one boot.

Her mind was wandering elsewhere that hour. She was thinking about her brother, still in the hospital under life-support. Doctors have reassured her time and again that there was nothing to worry about. They assured her that Derek was out of danger and that all that was left to do was to simply wait for Derek's body to decide for itself when it would wake up.

It was only a full day before she went to the hospital but for Jill that was already too long.

She looked down at her feet and noticed that she finally finished lacing up that one boot. Now it was time for the other. She tok it from the side of the bench she was on and slipped it on her feet. Her hands were slow in doing so and she was taking her time to lace it up. It was somewhere at that point when she was about half-way done with the lacing that the door to the locker room opened.

Jill looked up to see Han walk in, already fully suited. His face showed annoyance on the surface but hid something underneath. He stood by the doorway with his arms crossed as he looked down at Jill who only looked back while keeping silent. They looked at each other for a short while. Jill eventually looked away from him and resumed lacing her boot no faster than she was moving a second ago.

"You know, you should've just got the ones with the Velcro straps," said Han. "They're faster."

"I do just fine with these," said Jill flatly back at Han.

"If you don't hurry, we'll be late."

"They can demote me if they want."

Han sighed deeply. He never knew Jill to be an emotional person. She always hid her feelings deep inside her mind to try and act tough in situations like this. She was strong to be sure, but the way she was now did not look healthy. Han was worried about her. This incident with Derek struck something close to home for Jill. He figured that stuff like this has never happened to her before.

That was one of a cop's nightmares.

A cop's job was to go around, arrest bad guys, stop domestic violence cases, and keep people off bad stuff, and things like that. They deal with stuff like this on an everyday basis but most cops tend to think that the stuff they see, domestic violence, crime, people getting hurt in accidents, stuff like this would never happen to them. Stuff like this would never happen to their families, their friends, those they hold dear.

"Jill, it's gonna be alright," said Han.

Jill stopped her hands. She wanted to say something back. All she could think of to say were the kind of things that get bleeped on TV so she decided to clam up instead.

"Jill?" Han pressed, preparing himself for whatever she would say.

"…Why him?" Jill said finally. "Why did it have to be him?"

"There is no reason."

Jill looked back up at him.

"We both know that Derek didn't deserve what happened to him. But this kind of thing happened to him anyway even if there was no reason."

Jill didn't say anything for a while then looked away again. By now she was done tying her boot laces and all that was left was to get off the bench. But she wasn't going to do that just yet apparently.

"We can't let this continue," said Jill. "That thing you told me about is still out there somewhere. We have to find out what it is and if somebody was behind it all. If we don't, more people would get hurt over time. Innocent people. We have to end this while we can."

Han nodded his head. She tried to make it sound like it was just part of her job. In many ways, it was. However, he knew for certain that this was personal. He'd have to watch over her.

"We will get to the bottom of this, I promise," said Han. "But right now we have an assignment. An important one at that."

Jill let out a sigh. "Right. Let's go then."

She got off the bench and followed Han out the door.

Inside her mind she tried to push the thoughts of Derek in the hospital as far back as possible. Do your job, she said to herself. Remember, the job comes first. As she walked behind Han she took deep breaths as she repeated this line over and over in her head. Do your job.

Before she knew it, she was on the roof and getting on her designated Apache. They were the last crew to get on their Apache. The rest of the Cobra unit were finished with the pre-flight checks and were already in the process of taking off. Jill and Han rushed through the pre-flight checks on their own machine and took off a minute after the others.

They all flew separate direction. Cobra two was head for the airport

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At the Jump City docks.

Deep in the silent depths, it hung motionless and unconscious in the water, its foot still bound to the sunken anchor chain. However, upon closer inspection, the saltwater seemed to have deteriorated the bonding substance around its foot, weakening until it was just about ready to break. All it needed to break was some force to do so. That's when it happened.

The creature moved again.

Its muscles twitched once, then once again. Its fingers seemed to suddenly close then open on their own. Its slack jaw was twitching ever so slightly. This continued until the creature's entire body was convulsing violently. Its yes suddenly popped open and its mouth opened as wide as it could. It was as if the creature was trying to scream but without air in its lungs, it couldn't.

Its neck started bulging outwards, elongating itself. Feature's of the creature's face contorted. It's primate-like snout receded until its face was flat again but the mouth receded even more, looking like it was stretching itself across the head to develop a more reptilian-like jaw. Other reptilian facial features came to exist like bulges on top of its eyes. Its torso began expanding and so did its limbs. As it was transforming, the process caused minor wounds to open up on its skin and its rust-colored blood leaked out forming a dark red cloud around it.

As is limbs were once again expanding, its foot finally broke free of the glue-like substance that has held it onto the anchor ever since it sank. Now free of its bonds, the creature ascended to the surface creating a trail of its blood in the water. As it swam up to the surface more of its transformation became obvious but was covered in the cloud of its own murky blood.

It broke the surface, one large clawed hand digging into the side of the concrete pier. This was followed by another. Then, in one powerful motion, the creature threw itself out of the water and into the open air. By chance, it was next to one of the ship-loading cranes where it surface and while it was flying up, it grabbed onto part of the crane and started climbing up.

The crane's operator was slightly surprised by the sound of the creature first grabbing onto the large machine but when he looked out he saw nothing. The creature' shad climbed up to the top of one of the booms and was out of the operator's view. And there, in the light of the moon, the creature's complete transformation was now obvious.

Its entire body size had increased by about fifty percent. The torso especially looked like it nearly doubled in muscle mass. Aside from its head, its legs had also gone through some significant transformation. The thighs had doubled in muscle mass and the feet have lengthened quite a bit giving them a dinosaur-like appearance. The razon-sharp bone-blades at its forearms increased in length. The spikes on its back merged to form larger spikes that were less in number but much more intimidating.

However, the most noticeable change to the creature's anatomy was the addition of the almost 4 meter long tail.

As the creature rested on top of the crane's boom, the tail was flipping around in the open air as if the Creature was trying to get a feel for the new limb. For something that big, the tail showed a rather impressive amount of prehensile qualities as it seemed to be as flexible as a snake. The most note-worthy feature of this new limb however was the large curved spike at the end of it. The spike alone was almost a foot long.

Level B configuration.

The creature rested for another moment or two, relaxing itself into its new body. A couple of heavy breaths later it felt like it was ready again. Ready to resume its hunt for its prey. It threw its head back and let out a long deafening roar. Those on the docks that heard the oar had to cover their ears otherwise they'd go deaf.

Then, the creature disappeared into the night once again.

Somewhere nearby, Perudo was quietly monitoring the situation of the creature. He watched as it rested on top of the crane up until in bounded off into the nighttime lights of the city. He watched with quiet amusement as the game continued in front of his eyes.

"I wonder how long our little pet can hold out," he said to himself.

Just then, his communicator beeped to life and he answered it.

"Yes?" he answered coyly.

"Where have you been?" asked Annette Ashford.

"I have to eat don't I?"

"Whatever. What's the situation? I didn't get a report from last night."

"Last night was a bit hectic."

"Just tell me what happened to the Kapre and the Red X."

"Whatever I say, you're probably not gonna like."

Ms. Ashford hesitated to say anything back to that and for a while there was silence. From his side of the communicator, Perudo could clearly hear some glass breaking. Something didn't go her way again and she was more than a little upset about it. Good thing she didn't see Perudo's wry smile at her reaction.

"It can't be helped now." She finally said in a calm voice. "Proceed with the test at the next level."

"Already taken care of. I'll keep an eye on things as usual."

"One more thing, Perudo."

"Yes ma'am?"

"I don't want you making contact with the target again."

Perudo hesitated for only a second. "Awwww. Why can't I make new friends?" he tried to reply coolly but Ms. Ashford had already detected his slight contempt.

"I'm serious, Perudo. That attitude of yours will jeopardize the whole operation. Keep your distance from the target and don't confront him unless you have to."

"And if he comes to me instead?"

"If you're even worth half of the payroll I give you, then you would not let that happen. Contact me if there are any new developments. And remember one last thing."

"Yes?"

"This is not a game."

Annette Ashford terminated. Perudo stared at the communicator for a second then chuckled lightly to himself. Ms Ashford was getting angry at him again. Like she always does. He thought about the last words she said before she ended the conversation. This wasn't a game she said.

"Everything is a game," said Perudo. He pocketed away his communicator and stood up He looked towards the distance where the creature ran off to, no doubt to try and find the target again.

"And only the best players can survive."

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: Well, here's another one down. Not much going on yet but there will be plenty of action to come, I promise. In the meantime, pls. R&R.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of any copyrighted characters.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere in the city.

The night turned out better that he thought it would ever turn out. Nick and Tara were now driving around uptown Jump City, their school uniforms replaced by more classy clothes (Tara made Nick stop by at her place so she could change and Nick had a change of clothes in the trunk already). Nick summarized the night in his head and found that he had everything to be happy about.

The movie they went too was good. Nick still had a thing for movies that Tara liked but he remembered that he did this for her. The movie he picked was one she had insisted on them seeing for a week now. E tried to avoid it because he didn't like those kind of movies for a umber of reasons. But he decided for this night he would indulge her as best he can. The movie wasn't that bad and he managed to be interested in it a little.

The restaurant they ate at was good. It was from actually a recommendation form his mom. When he first asked her to borrow her car, a string of inquiries was thrown at him and before he knew it his mom was practically planning his date. He only got her to stop when he promised to take one of her recommendations. He would later learn that the restaurant they went to was one of his mom's favorite which she used to go to when she was still dating his late father.

During dinner, Tara and Nick had wonderful chemistry assisted by the nice ambience of the restaurant. He let her talk most of the time and he just listened. They talked about the usual stuff but at the end of it all, their simple conversations seemed a bit more satisfying than usual.

Lastly, and surprisingly, the car was good. Nick was too used to his bike and he was never really familiar with cars. When his father was alive, Nick used to be able to drive his dad's BMW M3 every now and then. The car was a thrill to drive sometimes. But the BMW was a pretty big handful to control, especially with all that power.

His mom's new Honda S2000 however was a bit of a treat for him. The car handled better than he expected. The engine was amazing, delivering an unexpected high yield of power when he managed to open it up to the higher revs. The suspension was also amazing, providing a comfy ride all the way. Plus, he was starting to get what the big deal was with convertibles. That wind in your hair really does feel nice. He was really beginning to like the car. And apparently, so was Tara.

"Your mom made a nice pick with this car," said Tara.

"I doubt she picked it for the practicality," replied Nick.

"I would guess so. I never knew your mom was into these sporty types of rides."

"Well, my mom was never the most girlish girl when she was growing up."

"Guess that's why she got into martial arts."

"Yup."

"By the way, how's her book doing?"

"Bestseller list last week and this week too. That makes five weeks in a row already."

"That's amazing. She must be really glad about that."

"My mom put a lot into that book. It's only right that she get that much attention for it."

"Plus, she must be raking in the cash by now."

Nick gave Tara a dubious look. "It's not about the money, you know."

"I was just kidding."

"You have to understand, Tara. Martial arts aren't just something to gawk at in the movies. People like my mom devote themselves into those kinds of disciplines. It's what makes her strong, physically and spiritually."

"Guess, it made you tough too, huh Nick? Good thing your mom made you kinda like her apprentice."

For the briefest moment, his mind flashed back to all those times he has put on the Red X suit and encountered some form of adversary, from some random street thug up to the Titans themselves, and also, that Kapre, his most recent adversary. He seldom wondered how he would ever faire without his training from both his mom and dad.

"Well, it helps every now and then," he answered as modestly as he could.

"Well, I kinda understand how stuff like that would work out. You need discipline as a means to control your full potential as a person. Without discipline aperson tends to loose their way and also loose control over their own capabilities."

"I never knew you took the arts."

"I don't."

Nick looked at her inquisitively. "Then what's with the wisdom?"

"I'm not really sure…"

"…More tidbits of your hidden past, huh?"

"I guess you could say that. But, let's forget about stuff like this. Where do you wanna go next?"

"Don't know, I haven't really planned that far."

"How 'bout we go to the mall then?"

"We go there all the time."

"Yeah, but the day is still young. Beside, I wanna get something."

Nick looked at her and gave her a curious smile. She returned it with a wry smile. Nick seemed to get the message and turned at the next intersection that was in the direction of the mall. He drove down the road for a while before he noticed that traffic has backed up all of a sudden.

Nick came to a full stop behind another car. The cars next to him also came to stops. Naturally, the two teens in the S2000 became a bit curious. Tara unbuckled her seatbelt, propped her self up and stood so that her head was over the windshield. She also saw over the next two cars ahead of hem and saw that the roadway was blocked by police cars.

"The cops have closed the road," she told Nick.

"Permanently?"

"No, there's just a couple of cars there…wait."

Tara watched as a number of black limousines rolled past the road escorted by a number of police vehicles. As the limousines passed by, Tara could see some official-looking flags on the hoods. Nick was also seeing this by now. He was peeking out the side of his car.

"Must be from the summit a while ago."

They heard helicopter blades whipping in the air. They both looked up in time to see a navy blue AH-64 Apache gunship fly by in between the buildings close on the tail of the limousine convoy. Nick recognized the Apache immediately.

"The Cobra unit? Must be really important people in those limos."

Nick and Tara watched in awe as the Apache disappeared behind the next building as it followed the convoy. Nick didn't give it much thought. As soon as the road was clear, they were soon off to the mall.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Some time later at Jump City Domestic Airport.

Cobra Two was parked on one of the many heliports close to the side of the tarmac. The cockpit of Cobra Two was opened so that the crew could get some fresh air. Jill and Han watched as the diplomats they escorted to and from the airport getting on their private jets.

Eventually the planes started taking off and soon the last one was out od sight in the darkening horizon. Cobra Two was practically done for the day but their orders were to stay on stand-by until the planes have officially exited the air control space of the state. That meant cobra two had about ten minutes to kill. However, the crew was ion no mood to talk, most of all, the gunner, Jill. Han didn't even attempt to start a conversation as he normally would. His mother was wise to teach him how to let sleeping dogs lie.

"Tell about that thing," said Jill.

Han was caught off guard. He looked down to make sure he was the one Jill was talking to. She had removed her helmet and put it in her lap. This means, because their helmets contained their transmitters, she wanted this to be just between them. Jill was patiently waiting for his answer. Han took off his helmet and set it on his lap. This was the only way they could talk to each other in private while on the field. It was against protocol to turn off their radio.

"What do you want to know?" asked Han.

"Tell me what it is."

"That's harder said than done."

"Was it metahuman?"

"Meta, yes. Human, I'm leaning towards no. If you've seen that thing fopr yourself you would think there was anything remotely human about it. It was an animal."

"There was nothing you guys could do against it? You told me that you both came charging in with assault weapons. That wasn't enough?"

"Not even close. That thing took everything we threw at it and just shook it off. I'm not really sure how though."

"You think there's any chance for people like us to stop it?"

Han was silent. Jill knew that meant a "no."

"If somebody doesn't stop it, a lot of people might get hurt. We have to try and take it down the next time we see it. We'll just have to throw everything we have at it."

"The thing is I'm not sure it that is enough."

"It has to be," said Jill with resolve.

Han was sure she would have added "for my brother's sake" at the end of that sentence but she did her best not to make it look like it was personal. But Jill did take it personally and understandably so. Derek was the only family she had left. He was always there for her as she was with him. He held a special place in her heart for being the first person to support her during that troubled time in her teens. Back then, in those older days, Jill had a hard time coping with herself and Derek was the first person to accept her before she accepted her own differences. Today, she lives with the same confidence that Derek had given her long ago. She owes too much to him.

"But who's to say when and where that thing will appear next?" asked Han.

"I don't know."

"Then how will we do this. How will anyone do this?"

"We just will, okay."

"Jill, it's not that simple. This thing might be tougher than we think. If we can't take it down the first two seconds we see it then there's a good chance it will take us down. Would you risk your life like that?"

"If it has to come to that…"

"Jill, you know better than to take risks like that."

"We can't let something like this scare us."

"I'm not scared."

"And neither am I. So stop telling me I'm supposed to be scared."

Han kept quiet at that point. There was nothing else he could say to get Jill to back down. IF anything she was more headstrong than her brother. Han had a choice of just doing his best to keep her safe or bailing on her. That latter choice, he considered not an option.

At that point the radio beeped. Both Jill and Han quickly put their helmets back on and waited for the dispatcher to talk.

"Cobra Two, this is dispatch, sound off," said the woman on dispatch in her regularly pleasant voice.

"This is Cobra Two, copy dispatch," replied Han.

"Escort targets have left Jump City air space. Mission in clear. Return to HQ a soon as you can, over."

"Copy that dispatch. Cobra Two RTB. Over and out."

After the short radio conversation. Jill and Han went back to their slightly awkward silence. Jill took the initiative by preparing all her stations for flight readiness in conjunction with standard procedure.

"Jill" called Han.

Jill stopped what she was doing and looked over her shoulder towards Han.

"I know I can't stop you from doing what you think you need to do," said Han. "I may not like it…no, I'm pretty sure I don't like it. But…"

Han hesitated a bit and Jill was listening intently.

With a resounding sigh, Han finished continued. "But I want you to know that I got you back."

Jill flashed him a thankful smile. "You have no idea how much you appreciate that."

Han nodded and stated with his pre-flight procedures. "It's okay. That's what cops do. We watch each other's backs no matter what. Plus, it's out job to keep the citizens safe."

In a matter of minutes, their craft was ready for the air. The rotor blades started to spin. At first they were slow but then a few seconds later the bladed became a large circular blur hanging over the Apache's body. Within seconds the aircraft was off the ground and in the air.

Cobra Two was headed back to base, thinking its night was over.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Later at the mall.

Nick was patiently waiting at one of the cafés for Tara to return. She said she wanted to get something and never bothered telling Nick what it was. That was not at all a problem except that Nick wanted to spend as much time with her as possible that night before he had to get home. He was a little anxious because of it. He tried to satisfy his impatience by drinking the drink he ordered. Tara's drink was untouched for the moment

Tara came back about four minutes after she left him there. This time she came round with a small shopping bag. She took the seat next to Nick on the small coffee table.

"Missed me?" she asked.

"Not terribly," Nick replied coyly.

Tara ignored it and sat down. "Here," she said as she handed over the bag.

Nick took it. He looked inside and saw an plain looking cardboard box. Nick gave Tara a curious look at first then reached in to take the cardboard box. He opened it up and found a rather plain looking wristwatch hidden inside. Nick examined the watch for a while.

It didn't look like it was cheap but looked like nothing special. The band was plastic and plain black in color. The timepiece's body was a shiny silver color although Nick was betting the body was made of steel or aluminum. The face of the timepiece was a pearl black with silver roman numerals for the hours. The hands were simple straight lines made of metal. Nick read the brand but didn't recognize it.

"Put it on!" urged Tara.

Nick complied. The watch felt lighter strapped around his hand. "Thanks, I guess."

"Well I noticed you never wear a watch."

"I broke the last one I had."

"Well now you have a new _special_ one."

"Special one?"

"Press that button on the left."

Nick raised an eyebrow and looked back at his new watch. He now noticed a button sticking out the side of timepiece opposite of the adjustment knob. He did as Tara instructed and pushed the button twice with his thumb. After that, a hidden slide popped out. Nick was able to pull on the button and the slide with his index finger's nail.

The circular glass slide was the same shape and size as the body. The slide contained a picture sandwiched between the metal back and the glass front, shaped appropriately like the slide. It was a scaled down photo of him and Tara. Nick smiled, remembering that Tara took this photo by herself with her cell phone camera.

Nick found himself staring at the photo for a longer time than he thought. He looked up at Tara who was slightly blushing and was avoiding his gaze. She was distracting herself by taking long sips of her drink.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

Nick smiled but she didn't see it. Nick knew how much of a romantic Tara was. He should've been expecting something like this. Nevertheless he felt about as flattered as he could get.

"Of course I do," said Nick.

"That's great!" Tara cheered ecstatically.

She then raised her hand up for Nick to see. "I got one for me too!" she exclaimed. Nick looked and saw the same kind of watch on Tara except that the band was white.

"Always the romantic, huh?" asked Nick.

Tara blushed a bit at that.

"I love it," said Nick, meaning every word.

It was not Tara's turn to be flattered.

They both look at each other for a while. It was one of those moments where you don't need words to say what you want to say. Nick put his hand on her chin and gently lifted her lips closer to his. Tara happily let him do as he pleased. Tara started to pucker her lips and slowly closed her eyes as they got closer to each other. Nick was doing the same thing. It was a second that seemed to last forever for Tara and she waited for when she could feel his lips on hers.

They were interrupted by the sudden outburst of gasps and screams.

The two teens opened their eyes and found that they were surrounded in total darkness. They both looked around but could see nothing and hear only the troubled gasps of the people around them. For them, it was almost a surreal experience. Tara was starting to get worried with goose bumps forming on her skin. She had noticed that Nick's hand had long since left her chin.

"Nick?" Tara called.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

A second later, the darkness was broken by the glow of yellow light. The mall's battery-powered emergency lights mounted onto the wall turned on as they were meant to. They didn't provide nearly the same amount of light as the malls normal lighting. They barely lit the way in a few places and some parts of the floor were still completely dark. But these lights, small as they were, seemed to provide some assurance to the people there.

Tara sighed in relief but Nick seemed to be contemplating. The lights going off like that seemed odd to him. He reached into his pocket and checked his cell phone. It was in proper working order. That ruled out electromagnetic interference then. The mall lost its own power then. But what happened to the back up generators? A mall this big had to have had its own generators just incase. Unless those were cut off too. But how and why were the questions he wanted answered.

"Nick, are you alright?" asked a concerned Tara.

Nick couldn't shake that feeling in his gut. "Something doesn't feel right here."

"You think we should leave?"

"…Definitely."

Nick looked around to see that a lot of people weren't doing anything. They probably think that the power would cut back on in a minute or so. There should be no danger. The fire alarm was not going off and that operated on an independent power supply. Nick wanted to tell everyone to leave but he knew he had no right, or reason, to do it. He got up off his seat. Tara followed suit.

Nick reached out and held Tara's hand. Tar moved closer to Nick. She too was feeling that the situation was a little off though neither of them could explain it. She decided for herself that leaving this place was the smart idea for now. That was easier said than done though. It was difficult to navigate in the poor light and even just after leaving their table they already accidentally bumped into a few people.

Around them, some people were making their way to the exits. Others simply stayed where they were unsure of what to do. Some were on their phone talking about what just happened. Everyone was curious but Nick and Tara seemed to be the only ones who were more worried than curious.

But for Nick it was much more than curiosity. He had an odd sense of déjà vu. Somewhere in his gut was a feeling telling him to get away as fast as he can. He couldn't explain it but he did not question it. Even for a sophisticated guy like him Nick relied on gut feeling more than he thought he did. It saved his life on occasions.

Nick didn't know this would be one of those times.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere in the basements.

Sneaking in was easy. It did so through the sewer system and then climbed up one of the drains. Cutting the power was easy. In the dark it looked at its handy work with nocturnal vision. The back-up generators had a gaping slash on its side. The main power line attached to one of the walls has been severed, its claw marks on the wall quite evident.

It let out a low growl in the darkness of the basement. It seemed satisfied with its work.

Now all that was left was to catch its prey. And it knew that the prey was somewhere very close by. It had received its scent on the way here and now it could almost feel the fear of it. The creature crept towards one of the ventelation ducts running from the ceiling into one of the air-conditioning units, passing by the unconscious bodies of the three employees it knocked out earlier. They weren't dead yet only because it had no interest in them. But those three would need medical attention soon.

With one swing of its bladed tail, it ripped opened the side of the vent. Jagged metal crashed into the far wall. With its clawed hands it widened the gash in the metal until the hole was big enough for it to go through. It stood back and observed its handiwork. If only it could smile, it would have.

It sniffed the air coming from the vent. Somewhere among the myriad of aromas was the scent of its prey. That whiff was enough to get the creature's blood boiling again. Its mouth started to salivate. It breathed deeply then let out a resounding roar right into the vents.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back upstairs.

The sound echoed from the vents and into the crowded mall floors. The sound was enough to make everyone freeze in their steps and look up at the vents curiously. The sound was foreign to the people in the mall. It was something they had never heard of before and they didn't know what to make of it.

Tara was one of these people. She looked up curiously at the vents which where the source of the echoing sound.

"What is that?" she asked.

Nick didn't answer. That's when Tara how stiff his hand was and that his grip on her became ever slightly tighter. She looked up and the usual calm and cool image of Nick Davenport which she knows so well has gone. Nick was frozen in place. His eyes were wide, also looking up at the vents where the sound came from. His breathing was faster now. A single bead of sweat ran down his cheek.

Tara looked closer and saw that his eyes had an expression of fear in them. Something she had never seen in Nick.

"Nick, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked again.

Nick didn't answer again. But that was all the answer she needed. This night would not end well.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: Here's another chapter down. Not much action yet but it's coming, don't worry. Pls. R&R in the meantime.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: What I said last time.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere over the city.

At relatively high altitude, Cobra Two was idly flying back to the JCPD headquarters. It's mission for tonight, as far as the crew was concern, was over. All that was left was to fly the thirteen miles from the airport to HQ. They could've gotten there by now but since it wasn't a priority flight they are required to fly at a relatively high altitude at minimal power.

There was no real practical reason for this procedure. It's just that an AH-64 Apache gunship flying at full power right on top of crowded streets make a lot of noise. There are a few people who get a little irate at that.

The cockpit was silent. Neither of the two crews had much to say to each other than flight-related chatter. Jill wanted to get back on the ground as quickly as possible. She still had to visit her brother and get home. Han wanted the uncomfortable silence to end but he had very little conversational topics to choose from. Han was about to speak up when the silence of the cockpit was broken by something else first: the radio.

"Cobra Two, this is dispatch," said the woman dispatcher on the line. "Repot your present location, over."

"Dispatch were are currently over Lennox St." replied Han, "proceeding to HQ, over."

"Cobra Two, receive new orders. Proceed to Madsen and Epps. Reports of suspicious activity from the area. Assignment is to act as surveillance and backup if requested copy?"

"Copy dispatch. Changing course, over and out."

That was the whole of the short radio conversation between Han and the dispatcher. He went to business immediately. He plotted out the new course on his GRS digital display and began turning the flight stick to the direction of their objective.

"Madsen and Epps," said Jill. "That's the Garland Compound isn't it?"

"Yeah," replied Han. "Could be something going on at the Garland Tech Center. Could be a lab accident or something."

"I thought the tech center was only open until Thursdays. On Friday's the tech center's closed."

"So the disturbance is not in the tech center. The only other place there is the…"

"Drycreek Plaza."

Both Han and Jill became silent. They both have frequented Drycreek Plaza over the years. It's one of the most popular malls in the city. Jill was just there the other day, buying Derek's congratulatory gift.

"The disturbance, whatever it is," said Jill, "must be something inside Drycreek Plaza."

"It's a Friday night," said Han. "There's gonna be a lot of people there."

Both crew members suddenly became nervous for no reason. They didn't say another word to each other. Han pushed the throttle more as he was now more determined to get to the mall as quickly as he could.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back at the mall.

The sounds from the vents have momentarily stopped. The people standing around in the dimly lit hallways of the power-deprived mall all stared up curiously into the vents to try and figure out what was the source of the weird sounds. None of them could come up with answer and most people just softly mumbled to each other.

Nick was a different story.

Tara could feel his hand start to sweat a bit as she held onto it. Nick seemed to be trying to control his breathing. Whatever that sound is, Tara figured Nick knew and that it didn't exactly fill him with comfort. This didn't do much to comfort her as well. She was so used to the cool and confident Nick that she too began to get nervous.

"Nick, please tell me what's wrong," asked Tara.

Nick didn't even look at Tara at first. His eyes were still frozen to the ceiling. Tara gave a good tug on his hand the jolted Nick back to reality and he finally looked at her.

"I asked you what was wrong," repeated Tara. "You're out of it and its making me nervous."

Nick seemed to have a hard time finding the right words to say. "We have to leave. We have to get this people out of here."

"Nick?"

"Just trust me on this one. You have no idea what coming after me."

"After you? What are you talking abou--"

Tara stopped in mid speech as realization hit her like an oncoming truck. Her mind flashed back to a recent conversation they had in the classroom, when she noticed that he was slightly limping at the time due to a bruise on his leg. She remembered what he said to her, almost to the word.

"Nick, " she stammered, "is it…that…"

"I can't explain everything right now," said Nick. "But the most important thing is that you and every one else in this building have to leave as soon as you can before that thing finds me."

"But what about you?"

"I…I don't know. I'll think of something."

"That's not good enough, Nick."

More sounds. Pounding sound. To the people who could hear it, it sounded like someone or something was hammering at the walls of the ventilation shafts.

All the people's attention turned back to the vents that were echoing the strange new sound. It seemed to be coming from everywhere. No one could pin point the exact source. Everyone seemed frozen a tense, Nick and Tara being the foremost. The pounding sounds seemed to increase in frequency, like a rising drum tempo. And then, just when the drum roll-like metal pounding seemed to reached its peak, it stopped as suddenly as it started.

Silence returned to the dimly lit floor of the mall. The people didn't move from where they stood. Some were muttering to themselves and their nearby companions. For some the night was getting a little too weird.

Nick let go of Tara's hand and started to take a slow step forward, craning his head to try and listen for more of the sound. Nothing but silence reached his ears. He took another very slow step forward. The silence was so deep that he could hear his own footstep echo a bit.

Behind him Tara, left alone, started to get scared and reached out a hand to grab Nick's shoulder calling "Nick, wait up." Nick heard and turned towards her just as Tara was about to touch him. He took a step towards her so that he could--

_**CRASH!!!**_

The floor exploded in the space between them in a loud breaking crash. The crash was closer to Nick and it was enough to blow his feet off the floor and send the teenage boy flying back a few feet onto the floor on his back with a grunt. Tara fell back on her butt with a loud yelp. Tara was momentarily disoriented but shook it off and looked down onto the floor.

Tara's eyes went wide as she saw what caused the floor to explode. Sticking out of the floor was some-kind of tentacle with a bone-spike tip that stood over four meters long. The people around her saw it too and started gasping in horror and shock.

Nick was the last to notice as he was still recovering from having the wind knocked out of him. When he sat back up and regained his sight he finally saw the alien-looking tentacle jutting out of the floor, its spiked tip suddenly swung down to where he was sitting on the floor. Nick's eyes went wide and, watching the spike coming towards him, reacted by using his hands to pull himself back a couple more inches and spreading his legs as wide as he could.

The spike pierced the floor in front of Nick, narrowly missing Nick's groin and thighs with millimeters to spare. Nick continued to crawl backwards. The spike-tipped tentacle pulled itself off where it pierced the floor and disappeared back into the hole it emerged from.

Silence followed but was short-lived. People around him started gasping and screaming out of what just happened and started rushing towards the exits. Nick looked forward and spotted the horrified face of Tara. His immediate instinct was to go to her and comfort her then do his best to get her to safety. But before he could do any of that, he felt the floor beneath his hand vibrate.

He was alarmed by this and immediately rolled to the side. Less than a second later, the tentacle emerged from the floor again, exactly where Nick was sitting on just half-a-second ago. Nick continued to roll to the side as the spike flew down towards him again and narrowly missed his waist.

As the spike was pulled back, Nick tried to get up but soon noticed the tentacle go horizontal it was whipping the sharp spike towards him. Nick allowed his body to go flat on the floor and the spike missed him except for a few strands of hair.

The tentacle then disappeared into the floor again. Nick staggered to his feet. He kept his eyes to the floor. Around him, frightened people began scrambling for the doors and some even started hiding inside the darkened shops. Nick stood his ground, mostly because he didn't know where to go.

Somewhere to the side, Tara was finally finding her feet again and stood straight up. She watched Nick worriedly and tried to think of a way to help. But what could she do? She had no idea and whilst thinking of ways to help she spotted something alarming.

Looking down onto the floor around where Nick was standing, she noticed a web of crack slowly from right behind him. Tara looked up at Nick's face to see that he hadn't noticed yet. She made him notice.

"Nick, behind you!!" she exclaimed.Nick quickly turned to Tara then shot his eyes at the floor behind his feet. The floor was bulging. Nick went wide-eyed but before he could do anything to avoid it, the floor exploded beneath his feet again and he was thrown forward down on his face with a grunt.

Tara gasped as she saw Nick's fall and what came out of the floor. It wasn't that same tentacle this time. Instead it was an arm, a long, black, scaly looking arm with sharp, clawed fingers and a bone-like blade jutting out from the wrist. Tara gasped again and covered her mouth with her hands as she saw the arm grab one of Nick's legs.

Nick felt the tight grip on his ankle and look towards is legs. He saw beyond that that the floor was bulging even more until whatever was attached to the hand finally emerged in an explosion of metal and tile from the floor. Nick was pulled along by the hand until he found himself off the floor by a few feet and hanging upside down by his ankle.

As soon as the cloud of debris cleared, _it_ finally revealed itself.

Tara saw it and she was immediately frozen with fear. The gigantic lizard-like thing just burst out of the floor holding her boyfriend by the ankle. She wanted to scream but she couldn't find the will power to do it with. Around her, people did the screaming for her. Ordinary mall-goers screamed in fear at the sight of the Kapre. Some simply dropped everything they had and just ran.

Nick got an eyeful of the creature as he hanged upside down from his ankle. He was surprised at the difference in size and shape as compared to the other night. He found himself suddenly staring eye to eye with the beast which growled at him. Nick immediately turned his face away since the creature's breath smelled horrid.

A moment ago Nick was frozen in fear just like Tara but the stanched seemed to have woken him up. As soon as the smell snapped him out of his initial shock Nick's sense of fear was soon replaced by something else.

His fear was there only to allow Nick to escape a potentially bad situation. If he knows something bad is coming he lets fear take over for as he did a while ago in order to try and get away as far as he could from a bad situation. However, when that bad situation happens to have caught up with him as it did from time to time (now, being an appropriate example) he knew fear would not help him. When the bad catches up, Nick has to push the fear away and put something else in its place.

Nick knew there was a time for flight and a time for fight.

"Put me down," said Nick in a low voice, "you stinking, son of a--"

Nick's other foot flew to the creature's face. The creature was caught off-guard and actually let go of Nick's foot. Nick dropped awkwardly onto the floor. He looked up to see the creature about to swing its arm down. Nick quickly rolled to the side and the clawed hand of the creature dug into the tile floor sending pieces of tile into the air.

Nick's training kicked in. He quickly hopped back up to his feet and dashed for he creature. While the arm was still effectively stuck to the floor Nick actually ran up the arm and delivered a drop kick to the back of the creature's head. With all the force of an anvil dropping, the creature met the floor face first.

Nick rolled of it's back and narrowly avoided the tail which was swinging wildly. He was heading towards the window of the store behind the creature which was an outdoor sporting goods store. On display at the front window were various forms of pocket knives and fishing equipment. Nick wasn't interested in the former but instead had an eye on three things included the fishing equipment. A gas lamp, bug spray and a field lighter.

When he reached the window, he delivered a powerful spin kick that shattered the glass instantly. With the display wide open, Nick quickly grabbed the gas lamp first and quickly turned around just when the creature turned to face him. Nick threw the gas lap at the creature with all the force he could muster. The lamp broke apart on impact and coated the creature's face and upper body in flammable oil.

Nick turned again and grabbed the lighter and the bug spray than turned back to the creature. Nick brought up the bug spray and sprayed a think cloud of pesticide towards the creature's face. While the pesticide itself did little to bother the creature, it was only half of Nick's plan.

Nick brought up the lighter while keeping his finger pressed at the spray's nozzle. With a flick of his thumb on the lighter's head, a single spark ignited the cloud into a bright orange blaze that blew towards the wide-eyed beast. The flames from the bug spray instantly ignited the oil that was already on the creature's body. It didn't take a genius to know what happened next.

The creature thrashed around as its body was engulfed in flames which in turn triggered the sprinkler systems. Nick kept the nozzle of the bug spray pressed down until it was empty, at which point he dropped it and ran towards Tara who was still frozen at the spot as she watched everything that happened.

"Tara," Nick called out worriedly, "are you okay?!"

Tara snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah, I'm okay."

"You have to go, now!"

"What about you?!"

"That thing's after me! I just have to lead it away from everyone else then I'll…"

"You'll what?"

Nick hesitated to answer. He looked back at the creature still struggling to put out the flames on its body, even with the air of the water coming fro the ceiling. Then he looked back at Tara who was giving him a questioning look.

"Nick, you don't have the suit!" said Tara. "What chance do you have against that thing like this?!"

"I'll think of something!"

"How will I know you'll be safe?!"

Nick was about to say something when the creature's roar got his attention again. He looked back to see the Kapre charging at him and Tara. Both teens went wide-eyed in surprise. Nick reacted quickly by grabbing Tara and shoving both their bodies to the side. The creature narrowly missed them with a swipe of its clawed hand. The both landed with a splash on the now wet floor. The creature slipped slightly due to the wet floor.

The creature dug its clawed toes to the floor to gain some traction. It eyed the two teen who were still lying together on the floor to its side. The creature suddenly dripped it head and upper-body and swung its spiked tail like a scorpion striking its prey.

Nick and Tara would've both been skewered if it weren't for their almost synchronized reaction of pushing away from each other. The spike pierced into the tile of the floor. The creature quickly pulled its spike out and tried another strike at Nick. Nick only avoided it by rolling to one side. The creature pulled back its tail and struck again in the same fashion. Nick again narrowly avoided being skewed by rolling to the side.

The creature quickly pulled out and tried the same moved while Nick was just rolling onto his back. The tail was not pulled back that much so it was quicker to reach Nick than before but the force was weaker. Nick was actually able to react fast enough and grabbed the tail with the sharp tip of the spike only millimeters from his face and held it back with both hands.

The creature put in more force to its tail straining Nick's arms. Nick was stuck with no options other than to hold off the spike as long as he can, which he knew isn't very long.

All the while Tara was watching all this happening. She was fully aware now of Nick's distress. If she didn't do something soon, She knew she would be short a prom date. She frantically looked around for anything to help. She saw it in the form of a kitchenware store no more than few paces to her left.

She dashed for the store and quickly browsed for what she was looking for. In the store, a few hiding shop-owners and customers were a little startled by her. She didn't mind them and instead grabbed from the wall the biggest cleaver she could find. Running back out the store, she quickly unwrapped the huge blade from its cardboard packaging. The creature didn't see her until it was too late.

With the cleaver in one hand, Tara grabbed onto the creature's tail with the other to hold it into place. She didn't hesitate to bring the cleaver down onto the soft flesh of the tail. The blade nearly went all the way with just the first swing. Tara could tell by the pained cream of the creature that it felt the blade. Nick continued to hold onto his end of the tail as Tara brought the cleaver up one more time and brought it down to finally chopped off a whole two feet's worth of Kapre tail.

The Kapre pulled its stumped tail back and howled constantly in immense pain. Nick tossed aside the rest of the tail he was still holding onto up to that point. And tried to get up but found that his back and arms were aching slightly from being pushed down like that.

Tara moved to help Nick up but was distracted when the creature aimed its sights at her. Tara noticed as those blood-red eyes glared at her angrily. Tara felt like her soul was being pierced by that glare. The creature growled angrily and started to ominously approach her. Tara started to back away from the thing. The creature ignored Nick this time and went after his girl instead. This alarmed Nick into doubling his efforts to get back up.

Meanwhile as the creature started getting closer, Tara vigorously threw the bloody cleaver at the creature. The creature was quick enough to simply swipe it away with its hand before the blade could cut anymore of its flesh. Now unarmed Tara got increasingly more nervous about her situation.

She tripped on a bag of groceries someone left behind, spilling the contents of the bag as she fell onto the wet floor on her butt. As the creature bared down on her, she desperately looked around for options. Next to her hand, she noticed a bottle of concentrated dishwashing soap liquid. Her brain quickly hatched an idea.

She grabbed the bottle of dishwasher, pulled off the seal, opened the cap, and aimed it at the creature just as it looked like it would take a bite out of her. She squirted all the contents of the bottle into the creature's face, with its wide open eyes, nostrils, and snarling mouth.

The concentrated chemicals, fragrances, and bleach compounds had an instant effect on the creature's three out of five senses. The creature reared its head back from the stinging sensation caused by the thick and gooey liquid. It thrashed about, covering its face with its hands trying to wipe off the liquid with little success.

Tara got off the floor and onto her feet but she did it a little too soon. As she stood to her full height, the thrashing creature spun around and whipped its stumped tail in her direction, hitting her in the stomach and knocking her towards a storefront window which cracked on impact. Tara bounced back onto the floor where she laid motionless

Nick saw this all to his horror. "Tara!!"

Nick hurriedly rushed over to her. He kneeled down next to her and cradled her head and upper body up with his arms. Tara was amazingly still conscious, somewhat. She groaned as she opened her eyes to look up at Nick. Nick noted she didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere and she wasn't bruised anywhere he could see.

"Are you alright?" she asked groggily.

For some reason, Nick felt more secure that Tara herself was alright. "Heh, shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I just had the wind knocked out of me, that's all,"

Nick was still worried however and felt the back of her head. His hand ran across a lump that was forming at the back of her head from hitting the glass. Tara wore a pained expression on her face as he touched it.

"That's a bad lump," said Nick. "We need to have that looked at."

"It's not serious," insisted Tara while cringing slightly. "I don't feel dizzy or anything like that."

"Sill, you should rest and--"

A loud growl coming from behind called Nick's attention away from Tara. The creature was growling at him but was still rubbing soap out of its eyes. Nick narrowed his eyes in rage. His lips partially parted to reveal his clenched teeth. He removed the jacket he was wearing and folded it into a make-shift pillow.

"I'll be back," said Nick.

He gently laid Tara's head down on his folded jacket. He slowly got up and walked away from Tara, keeping the creature's attention on him. He stood in the middle of the floor to make sure the creature was looking at him and nobody else. The creature growled again in anger and stood with a wide stance.

Nick clenched his fist. "You want a piece of me? Come get me, asshole."

Nick's one and only thought was to get this hing as far away from Tara as possible. Nothing else mattered to him. He suddenly charged at the creature like a mad man. The creature itself was a bit surprise that its prey willingly ran to it. The creature readied its stance to catch Nick when he came.

But Nick had other ideas. Less than two meters from the creature, Nick dropped to a feet-first slide in the style of a baseball player trying to take a base. Nick slid across the wet floor easily and went in between the creature's legs and out behind it. The creature, still slightly blinded by the soap, swung its arms to grab nothing but empty air.

Nick hopped back up to his feet and started running for the nearest fire exit. He glanced back and as predicted the creature turned and quickly gave chase towards Nick. Good, Nick thought, follow the bait.

The nearest fire escape was already in Nick's mind before the fight ever started. It didn't take more than three seconds to reach it. He kicked the door open and quickly started climbing the stairs. The creature crashed right through the doorway, its extra wide shoulders misshaping the doorframe.

Nick didn't need to look back. He simply ran up the stairs for all his worth. Tope floor, he thought, just reach the roof and you can take care of things from there. The Mall was only four floors high, and Nick only had to climb about 100 steps worth of stairs to get there while being chased 12 foot lizard. No pressure.

The creature actually had a hard time keeping pace with Nick as he blazed a trail up to the roof. Its extra large body was having trouble negotiating the tight spaces of the vertical shaft. The creature damaged the walls and the railings of the stairs as it passed.

Nick finally reached to top floor with the exit leading to the roof. Nick elbowed his way through the door and emerged on the other side. He was met with a cold night breeze as he continued to rush forward wanting to put more distance between his and the door. With good reason.

A few seconds later, the creature busted through the doorframe. The door fell onto the roof top all crumpled and useless. The doorframe was crumpled beyond repair and concrete pieces were broken off. The creature stood there next to the doorframe panting. Nick faced the creature with clenched fists and gritted teeth. He looked behind him and saw the edge of the roof. A plan hatched in his head. The creature is still slightly blinded by the soap. Maybe he could lead it to the edge at it'll run itself all the way to the tarmac bellow. That wouldn't kill it but it would certainly by him time to get to the car where se stashed his Red X suit.

Nick turned back to the creature which seemed to be convulsing for some reason. Nick watched wide-eyed as the stumped tail started whipping down onto the floor several times. The tail shook violently as the creature let out a series of low grunts. All of a sudden and to Nick's surprise the tail sprouted a brand new spike which looked similar to the one Tara had to cut off.

The creature looked up towards Nick swinging its newly spiked tail. Nick started backing up to the edge. The creature followed him with every step.

As the two stared down each other, the wind picked up a bit. The creature let out a loud roar that shook the floor they were standing on. It looked to be readying itself to pounce. Nick was getting worried by then. The edge of the roof was still a good distance away. He had nowhere to run and nothing to defend himself with. He was desperate for a solution at that time.

The wind picked up some more. The creature bolted for Nick who was as vulnerable as he was ever going to be. Nick was out of ideas and out of time. He instinctively raised both arms to cover his head. He thought he heard the creature roar again as the wind picked up but it was only a second later that he realized that he lucked out.

The creature never came. Nick opened his eyes to see that the creature was not looking at him anymore but was looking at something behind him. And that roar he thought came from the Kapre actually came from something more menacing. Nick turned to give himself a surprise.

Hovering no more than thirty yards away was a blue-painted AH-64 Apache gunship. Nick felt awe and surprise when he looked at the aircraft. The creature treated the newcomer with curiosity and hostility evident in its growls at the chopper.

"Get out of the way, kid!" called out a woman's voice over a loudspeaker from the Apache.

Nick didn't need to be told twice. He almost saw what was coming. Nick immediately ran to the side to give the gunship a clear view of the creature. The creature tried to roar away the chopper but the whipping blades drowned anything the creature could vocalize. A second later, the bullets came.

From the Apache's trademark nose-mounted M230 Chain Gun came a barrage of 30mm armor-piercing rounds that pelted the creature relentlessly. Nick was forced to dive as soon as the bullets came. He skidded on the rooftop gravel. He sat up to watch as the creature was pounded mercilessly by the rapid fire of ammo. The flashing barrel of the chain gun was almost blinding to him when he tried to look at it.

The creature was almost just a blur of splattered blood by then, the bullets that went right through it pelted other structures on the roof like the vents and air-conditioning motors, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. The creature high-pitched shrills cane be barely heard over the chopper's gunfire.

A sudden as it came, the rain of lead stopped.

By the end of the barrage, the barrel of the M230 was red hot and steaming. A cloud of dust covered the are where the creature fell. Nothing moved. For Nick the wait seemed to last forever.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Aboard Cobra Two.

Han and Jill seemed to be holding their breaths as they waited for the cloud of dust and smoke to clear so that they could asses the damage to both the mall's roof and whatever it was they were shooting at. Jill took a quick glance at the boy on the rooftop. The boy was getting back up to his feet and he didn't seem injured. One less casualty to worry about, she thought.

"I think we got it," said Han as he let out a sight of relief.

From out of the dust cloud, a blur of black jumped out and impacted the front nose of the Apache. Han and Jill were caught totally off-guard by the creature suddenly jumping fro the roof top and clamped itself with its sharp claws onto the canopy. Han was jolted and in turn mishandled the controls causing the aircraft to suddenly bank to the right. The Apache was rapidly dropping to the parking lot. Below, people who made it out of the mall and gathered on the lot began screaming and scattering.

Han reacted in time and regained control of his aircraft just in time to pull the Apache out of its fall. Cobra Two narrowly missed hitting the ground by just a few feet. Han pulled the throttle to push the aircraft in a rapid accent. Soon Cobra Two was above the roof of the mall and flying towards the inner city, carrying a new unwanted passenger.

"Son of a--" exclaimed Jill as she made eye contact with the creature that was snarling back at her through the bulletproof glass canopy.

"I can't shake him off!" declared Han.

Han flew deeper and deeper into the city but with a giant lizard stuck to his canopy, his visibility was very limited. He had to be extremely careful no to fly into a building. The creature started clawing at the canopy glass with its claws, causing Jill to get a little scared. Her chain gun was useless to her. The creature was over the canopy and away from the ranged of the chain gun. Her hand moved away from her stick and moved to the pistol on her thigh.

The creature attacked the crew of Cobra Two by lashing its tail to the side of the canopy. The tail cracks the whole right side of the canopy. The creature snarled. Han was getting frustrated. He tries a gusty move by making the Apache make a sharp turn to the right when they reached a junction in the street.

The creature's claws slipped and it nearly fell of the left side of the aircraft. The creature was quick enough to garb with its other claw and pulled itself back onto the nose of the Apache. It met the crew face to face once again and let out a snarl.

"Dammit, didn't work!" exclaimed Han.

The creature swung its tail again and this time completely shattered the already cracked right side of the canopy. Broken glass sprayed into the cockpit. The only things that saved the crew from serious cuts were their helmets and flight suits. The breaking of the canopy glass caused Han to momentarily loose control of the aircraft again. The chopper sharply banked to the left.

The momentary jolt to one side caused the creature to slide over to the right. Its sharp claws clamped onto the upper part of the canopy's frame. Now, nothing separated from the crew and the snarling creature out side. The creature first turned towards Han who was too busy with the controls of the aircraft to do anything to defend himself.

He did the only thing he could do: maneuver the aircraft in hopes of shaking the thing off. He pulled on the throttle again and put Cobra two in a rapid accent. Soon they were over 200 hundred stories above street level. This did nothing to deter the creature from raising its tail as it prepared to strike the spiked tip at Han. That's when Jill acted. She took out her Beretta M9 pistol out of its holster and aimed it point-blank at the creature's face.

"No hitchhikers allowed!" she exclaimed.

She emptied the pistols clip into the creature's face. Jill's actions caused the creature to loose its grip over the canopy and it plummeted out of the sky with a deafening roar.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

On the street.

People minding their own business never saw it coming. From out of the night sky this deafening roar cam. People looked up to see a simple blurry mass falling. They could tell what it was or where it came from. All they knew was that it would hit the street and it would hit it hard.

Already people started screaming alerts to all in the area of the creature's predicted point of impact. People were telling other people to get out of the way before it came down and then scattering away themselves. One man was brave enough to got to the street and stop oncoming traffic. If that thing hit a car on its way down, who knew what would have happened.

Eventually it came. It fell well over 200 stories until it finally met the street below. It hit with such forced that it went right through the street and crashed into a sewer line just below it. The impact threw up a large explosion of debris and sewer water, much to the disgust of some of the people present.

Seconds passed by like minutes. People were on the floor expecting some kind of explosion but nothing followed after the initial crash. One bystander was brave enough to approach the gaping hole that was in the middle of the street. He took more caution in his steps as he got closer. When he reached the edge he peeked in. What he saw, he didn't recognize.

There was a body. Some kind of body. Most of it was submerged by the water and the man couldn't identify it. All he knew was that it looked ugly as hell. The man looked over his shoulder and told a companion of his to call the cops. He watched his companion do as he said by fishing out a cell phone and dialing 9-1-1.

The man looked back down into the pit. To his surprise the body had disappeared.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's notes: I had a rough time planning out the action in this chapter. I'm thinking I may have put too much actually. Next chapter will be a little more toned down but plenty of interesting stuff will be revealed there including a flashback that will answer a question you guys have probably been wondering about so you wouldn't want to miss out on that. Pls. R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own them, blah blah blah...

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Some time later.

Nick walked across the crowded parking lot where cop cars and ambulances were parked all over the place. He was among the last of the people to walk out of the mall before the police put their signature yellow tape across every door in the premises. The only people inside the place were cops and firemen, checking things out. Nick briefly wondered how they will handle the case for now.

On his way out Nick was approached by a medic because he had a light scratch on his cheek, probably from when he dived down onto the rooftop gravel he thought when that gunship started firing. It was a minor injury that all he needed to do was to wash it off with a damp cloth. The medic offered to escort him back to a waiting ambulance where other people who sustained some injury in the panic were getting some medical attention.

Among them was Tara.

Nick spotted her immediately. She was seated on the rear bumper of the ambulance holding an icepack to the back of her head. She seemed to be waiting for Nick as she sat there looking around. He went to her and she spotted him soon enough.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Never felt better," replied Tara. "Must be all the morphine."

Nick smiled back. He knew she was kidding. He turned to the medic that was attending to both of them. "Will she be okay?" he asked.

"She'll be just fine, no real injury on her" said the medic while handing Nick a wet napkin to wipe his cheek. "She'll just have to put that lump on ice for a while."

The medic moved to another ambulance which needed assistance. That left Nick and Tara effectively alone to each other. Nick looked down towards Tara with a caring expression on his face. "You have no idea how glad I am you weren't hurt badly."

Tara felt a bit flattered at that. "Well, I tougher than I look."

Nick sat down on the bumper next to her. He held onto the icepack for her, lifted it off so that he could see for himself the lump on her head. Already the swelling had stopped and it looked like it would be gone in the morning.

"You know, Nick, it's more of a miracle that you're not hurt," she said. "That thing…was that what you were talking about? The thing that came after you these past nights?"

"Yeah, but it's become considerably uglier since then."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm afraid it may be mutating into stronger forms every time I manage to beat it."

"And you didn't tell anyone about this? Why didn't you go to the cops and tell them about it?"

Nick gave her an odd look. A second later Tara realized how messed up her suggestion was. Go to the police and tell them that he was Red X and that he was being chased by a twelve-foot lizard. Not the best option. "I see your point."

Nick sighed. "I thought about telling the someone about this for a while. But the thing is…"

Nick hesitated. It was an uncomfortable silence for him and Tara noticed this. By the looks of things, there was something that got Nick shook up and it wasn't just her getting almost hurt.

"Last night, I encountered that thing in the city docks," said Nick, catching Tara's attention. "I was trying to figure out what that thing was then it came out of nowhere. I wanted to lead it away from people as much as possible but…Two cops showed up, I don't know how. One of them tried to take on that thing. I did my best to tell him to get away but…he was one of those types, you know? Anyway at the end of it all…"

Nick trailed off. He took a deep breath and swallowed his own word as if they didn't want to come out. How ever, Tara could pretty much figure out what he was saying.

"That cop got hurt bad, huh?"

"You'll probably hear about him on the news later."

"That _is_ bad. So you didn't tell anybody else because you knew there's a chance that others will get hurt. You didn't want that."

"This started with me. It has to _end_ with me as well."

"But how will you end this? Do you even know why that thing is after you?"

Nick was silent for a moment. "…I'm not sure of everything yet. But let's just say I'm only a few pieces short of the full jigsaw. Crazy thing is I think this didn't start just a few nights ago. I think it started earlier than that…way earlier."

"Nick…I don't quite understand…"

Nick stood up from the bumper as the medic that was attending to them suddenly came back. Tara too stopped talking. They didn't want anyone picking up on the conversation. The medic walked up to them and took the ice bag Nick was still holding to Tara's head.

"Let me check on that bump now," said the medic, looking at the back o Tara's head. "The swelling seems to have gone down already. I think you're clear to go home now."

"Thank you," said Tara to the medic.

Nick gave an appreciative nod. The medic returned it and walked away again to treat another patient. Nick waited until he was sure nobody was in earshot of them before facing Tara again.

"Tara, listen," he said. "I'll explain everything to you later on. I owe you that much."

"Damn right you do," she said with a hint of a grin.

Nick returned it and offered a hand to Tara. She took it and Nick helped her off the ambulance bumper. They both started to walk to where' Nick's Mom's car was parked. "I promise you I'll tell you everything but right now I have to see someone. I need to see him so that I could get some more answers."

"Who is it? Is he important?"

"He is to me. And he's probably the only person now who I could be sure would know something about why that thing is after the Red X."

"How could you be so sure, Nick."

"It's simple…He's the one who _gave_ me the suit in the first place…"

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Several months ago.

An ordinary day in the ordinary life of one Nicholas Davenport. Somewhere downtown, Nick was sitting on his bike at an intersection waiting for the light to go green like several other motorists to his either side of him. It was the end of yet another one of his mundanely routine days. School was over for the day and now he just wanted to get home, finish his homework and get back to a game in his computer he's be occupying himself with.

He looked up at the stop light and literally counted the seconds as they passed while the light stayed red. It seemed to stay that way for an awfully long time and Nick was getting irked by that. His remembered his mother saying something about to never count time since that makes it feel like time is slower than it actually is. His finger was tapping the handlebars and his left foot was tapping the gear lever.

"C'mon already…" he mumbled to himself. A whole twenty seconds passed with the light still staying red. A vein popped-up on Nick's temple beneath his crash helmet.

The light finally changed. "About time…"

Nick revved the motor and started off on his way. He got about ten feet before he was cut off by a speeding car that came out of nowhere. Nick couldn't react in time. He tried to apply the brakes but it was too late and his front wheel hit the passenger side door of the car. The impact caused Nick to go off-balance making his bike to tip over and him fall on his butt.

Other motorists behind him ground to a halt and started honking their horns at the car that blocked Nick which was now stopped in the middle of the road. Nick got his first good look at the car. It was a large black Mercedes C-class sedan. Nick got off his butt just as the driver side door of the sedan opened up to reveal a burly looking man in sunglasses and a dark black suit.

Nick lifted the visor of his helmet and got the first word out. "Hey, man, can't you read traffic lights?!"

The burly man went around the hood of the car to Nick's side in order to inspect whatever damage there was. Nick tried to press the matter but the burly driver soon grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground with a grunt. Nick, caught off-guard, found his feet dangling.

Jus then the rear passenger window opened and an old guy in another nice suit poked his head out the window. "Hey, what's the hold up?"

Nick turned to look at the man in question. He noticed two things. One: there were two more similar cars behind the first Mercedes. Two, he recognized the old man.

"Nothing sir," replied the burly driver.

He then tossed Nick aside like a piece of paper. Nick was back on his butt in a second. The burly driver moved Nick's fallen bike with his foot to the side earning a short protests from Nick. The driver then returned to his post behind the wheel and started the three-car convoy again. All the while, people who had the right of way were honking for the three cars to get out of the way.

As the last car passed Nick picked his bike back up and moved it to the side so the other cars could finally pass. He stared into the back of the last car. He remembered the old man from the first car. He recognized him instantly the moment he saw him. Being the son of one of the most respected officers in the JCPD, Nick had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the most wanted gangsters in Jump City. The old man he just saw was number 4 in the 10 most wanted list.

It only took Nick a second to make a decision to change his plans for the rest of the day and to follow the convoy of expensive black cars. He restarted his motor and jetted off in pursuit of the convoy.

Nick was smart enough to keep his distance through the whole time he was tailing the convoy. Gangsters weren't stupid. But being on a bike, he did have the advantage of being able to hide himself behind other cars much easier. It was a few minutes later that he convoy finally stopped somewhere in the eastern district of the city in what looked like a beat-up old warehouse.

Nick stopped a few blocks away so as not to bee seen but he was close enough that he could still see what the men were doing. They were all coming out of their cars; 12 men in total. And they all walked straight into the warehouse. Nick has seen enough to know that this was most likely a meeting of some sort. He knew he wanted to go there an check things out but, being the son of a detective, he knew that simply walking up to the building was stupid, not to mention down right dangerous.

So he scouted the place a bit. None of the men stayed outside to act as sentries. They all went inside the warehouse via the front door. Nick had to go around and find another route. As soon as the last guy entered an closed the door behind him, Nick started moving. He rode around the block and ended up behind the warehouse. He parked his bike somewhere it wouldn't be seen and started looking for an entrance. All the time he didn't bother taking off his crash helmet. Something in his gut said he might need it. No one saw him as he moved.

While there was a backdoor, Nick decided against it and opted for a metal staircase on the west wall which had a door at the top. Hat's what he decided on. When he reached the door he was lucky it was unlocked. He slowly opened the door and peeked inside. No one there he could see immediately but he could already hear some voices. He proceeded into the warehouse being as stealthy as possible.

He first ended up in a small office that was empty. He peeked out the window carefully. Below he could see the gangsters all gathered together facing a single direction. Nick followed their line of sight. Another man was present. One that was wearing some oversized jacket with the hood up to cover his head. He was also carrying a suitcase.

Nick saw they were talking but couldn't hear any of the conversation. He then spotted the door on the other side of the office. He moved towards it keeping his head down. He slowly opened the door and stepped out onto a metal walkway. Lucky for that the office was built so that the door he just exited was parallel to the opposite wall and the walkway filled the space in between the two just before ending in a perpendicular wall. This created a little niche for him to remain unseen but still be able to hear the entirety of the conversation and peek around to see.

"So that's it then?" asked the old man. "All you want for it is a simple 50 million?"

"If you can't afford it…" said the mysterious stranger.

"Oh, I can afford it."

"Then it's a deal."

The jacketed man lifted the suitcase he was carrying and tossed it towards the old man so that it landed on his feet. The old man knelt down to open the case and check was what inside. From his view point, Nick couldn't tell the contents of the suitcase.

The old man seemed satisfied and closed the case. He signaled one of his lackeys. That particular lackey was also carrying a suitcase. Nick assumed that was the money to be paid. The henchman tossed it at the feet of the mysterious guy who then crouched down to open it. Both he and Nick were surprised to see it filled with nothing but fast food restaurant fliers.

"I thought we had a deal," said the stranger as he closed the suitcase and stood back up.

The old man grinned. "Well, I'm making a new deal."

After he said that, four of the men in front of him drew Glock pistols from their suits and aimed it at the stranger. The stranger didn't move an inch.

"I think it would be better if you come with me so that we could talk," said the old man, "otherwise I fill you with lead right here, right now. That's the new deal."

The stranger only grinned right back. "Can I ask what this is all about?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? The priced you asked for—50 million dollars—was not your real objective. To be able to get something like this in your hands, that kind of money is pocket change to your boss."

"How perceptive of you."

"Now, I want to know who you're working for. I want to know just what are you planning. And you're gonna tell me everything I want to know. Understand?"

"Lamentably, to my contrition, I am, at present, disinclined to acquiesce to your appointed stipulation."

The old man looked confused for a bit.

"It means 'no'" finished the stranger."

The old man's face went sour. Nick didn't like where this was going. The stranger seemed to be completely at a disadvantage. What could he possibly be thinking when he refused that demand like that? Nick soon got his answer. The old man raised his finger to point at the stranger and yelled "Get him!"

The men start to pull the trigger on their guns. The stranger did something creative. He kicked up the suitcase that was still on the floor just as the henchmen fired. By the time the bullets reached his space, the suitcase was covering the stranger. All the shots pelted the suitcase and left the stranger unharmed. The stranger then spin-kicked the suitcase into one of the men hitting him right in the face and knocking him out.

The other three men were caught by surprise by this move. Momentarily distracted, the men didn't see the stranger extend two whips out of his jacket sleeves. The stranger lashed out both whips which knocked the pistols from out of the henchmen's hands. He then lashed out at the men themselves, knocking three down with a single whip lash each.

The rest of the men were too surprised to react in time to the next set of attacks. The stranger lashed out at the old man. His whip wrapped around the man's arm holding onto the briefcase.

"Guess this means the deal's off, huh old man?" said the stranger.

The stranger gave a powerful pull on his whip which sent the old flying in his direction. The gangster was then helpless when the stranger back flip-kicked him in the chin while in mid-air, knocking him out unconscious and causing him to drop the suitcase at he stranger's feet. The other seven men still standing finally snapped out of it and proceeded to draw their weapons. The stranger was more than ready for them.

Two men charged forward with guns drawn. The stranger lashed out at them with both his whips. Each whip wrapped around the waist of one of the men. The stranger then spun around and hurled the two man like slingshots and threw them both upwards. The two men landed ring onto the second floor walkway not to far away from where Nick was hiding. Nick didn't expect that but the two men seemed to be out of it so he continued to watch below.

The stranger rushed forward and positioned himself right in the middle of the five remaining men. Some of the men drew knives in anticipation for a close-range battle while at two drew their guns. The stranger paid attention to those drawing their guns first. He lashed his whips out to them. The whips wrapped around their necks and the stranger pulled them together to bump their heads together, knocking them both out.

Next the stranger turned his attention to the three remaining men with switchblade at the ready. He grinned in confidence as he got into a fighting stance. They all charged at the stranger simultaneously, thinking their numbers would give them the ad vantage. As soon as they were within striking distance the stranger jumped and flipped over their head ending up behind the three men.

The stranger did a quick one-eighty. He lashed out at two of them with his whips and wrapped them around the men's legs. He pulled hard, causing the men to fall flat on their faces and into unconsciousness. As for the last guy, the stranger rushed him before he could fully turn around, jump up and actually stood on top of the man's head on one foot.

The man suddenly found himself carrying an unusual load on his head. With a grin on his face, the stranger brought down his other foot hard onto the man's skull, completely knocking the guy out. The stranger landed safely back onto the ground while the henchman was flat on his back.

Meanwhile, Nick was watching the whole thing go downhill for the gangsters still safe in his niche. It wasn't until something caught the edge of his sight that he noticed that the two men that were on the walkway with him were getting up.

He then noticed the gangsters noticing him and they were more than a bit surprised at his presence. They started to draw their knives and hold them out towards Nick. With two armed men bearing down on him, Nick knew at that point that he had no choice but to face them head-on.

Nick put his martial arts training to good use. As the first guy charged in with a knife thrust, Nick rushed forward. At the last second, Nick stepped to the side making the man miss him by a mile. Nick then quickly grabbed the man's knife wielding arm, pulled it up and twisted it at the wrist, earning a loud yelp from the gangster as he dropped his knife. With the leverage he had, Nick then pushed the gangster down onto the walkway and finished him off with a foot to the stomach to knock the wind out of him.

The second guy came running at him as well. Nick stepped back as the guy started swinging hi small blade haphazardly. At the last swing, Nick ducked out of the way then threw a solid jab at the man's stomach. The gangster bent over in pain. Nick finished him off with a knee to the face. Both men were down. Nick stood bak up and breathed a sigh of relief.

However, his relief didn't last too long.

"And who might you be?" asked the stranger below, catching Nick's attention.

Nick sharply tuned in alarm towards the stranger who was eyeing him curiously. The stranger had removed the hood of his jacket to reveal most of his head. At least a third of his face was covered by a high-tech looking mask that reminded Nick of a certain video game character. For the stranger though, he couldn't identify who Nick was since Nick was still wearing his helmet.

The stranger grinned at him. "Why don't you come down here and introduce yourself?"

The stranger reeled both his arms back and lashed the two whips on either side of Nick, wrecking part of the walkway. The collapse of the walkway caused Nick to inevitably fall onto the ground floor along with the two unconscious men that were with him. They all crashed in a heap that kicked up a huge dust cloud from the floor.

As the dust cloud settled, the stranger moved towards where the three bodies have fallen among the pile of twisted metal ruble. He could see that Nick was face down on the floor and seemed to be unconscious. The stranger lightly kicked him and he didn't move. He then used his foot to flip Nick over on his back. Still no response. The stranger then crouched down and grabbed Nick by the hem of his collar to lift him up and pressed his limp body against the wall for support.

The stranger's other hand slowly moved towards the boy's visor, hoping to get a look at the boy's face. However, when the stranger was about to touch the helmet, Nick's hand suddenly flew up to the stranger's neck. In the hand was a switchblade that Nick snatched from one of the unconscious gangsters while the stranger wasn't looking. The stranger was caught totally off-guard.

"Your move," said Nick in a low tone of voice.

The stranger didn't move or offer any kind of response for a while. Eventually, the stranger smiled taking a bit of humor out of the situation. He then let go of Nick slowly and stepped back. Nick kept his hand with the knife raised in a defensive gesture.

"No one has managed to get the drop on me before," said the stranger. "…you're something else."

Nick didn't offer a response to that. He simply stood there, switchblade at the ready.

The stranger didn't seem to take offense to this. He looked over his shoulder and spotted the suitcase he came in here with. His sight then turned to the boy and went back and forth several times. Nick stared curiously. The stranger seemed to be deeply thinking about something. Lastly, the stranger stared at the suitcase long and hard.

"Why not?" he mumbled to himself. "It seems like an interesting idea."

He then looked towards Nick with a strange smile on his face. Nick was deadpan though you couldn't really tell due to the helmet.

"Keep it," said the stranger. At first Nick had no idea what he was talking about but then his sight caught the suitcase on the floor. The stranger began to walk way towards the door Nick remained tense, keeping the switchblade pointed at his opponenet. The stranger ignored Nick's unfriendliness and moved towards the door and made ready to leave. As he as about to go out he turned to face Nick one last time.

"Have fun with it," he said simply then left.

The warehouse was quiet. Nick was the only conscious being in it. Eventually he lat his arm down convinced that whoever that weird guy was, he was gone now. He looked around him. All the gangsters were still alive but worse for wear. There didn't seem to be a chance that any of them would wake in the next few minutes.

Nick decided to finally take off his helmet so that he could breath properly. He reached into his pocket to fish out his cell phone. He was going to call his dad, Detective Marvin Davenport. After all, one mob boss and eleven of his lackeys were a pretty big catch.

As he was about to dial the number, Nick hesitated as his eyes fell on the suitcase the stranger left behind. He stared at it for a while. Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he moved towards it, knelt down, and unlocked the latches. He didn't open it right away. He recalled what he knew about the item. Whatever was in there was being sold for at least 50 million bucks and it had to be sold in secret to a mob boss. Despite that, Nick knew it was practically handed over to him.

He looked back down and slowly lifted the suitcase open. He saw the contents for the first time and his heart skipped a beat.

"This…this is…" he mumbled incoherently in shock.

He was looking directly at the Red X suit

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back at the present

The rooftop of the mall was a mess. The gravel was unevenly distributed across the floor. Dark, rust-colored blood stains where everywhere. On one part of the roof there were several holes in the concrete due caused by the high-power rounds of the Apache's M230 chain gun. There were also several machinery that were damaged in the attack. Something the mall's insurance company would have to worry about I the morning.

Overlooking the sight was Perudo.

He was standing on top one of the air-conditioning motors. He had an amused grin on his face. "Man…the boss ain't gonna like hearing about this."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his personal PDA. He brought up a screen that displayed some strange data that only he was able to interpret. It was data referring to the creature.

"Hmmm, looks like out little pet has gone to lick his wounds," he said to himself. "I doubt it could handle anymore _hunting _tonight. The boy was lucky. Or was he really just that good." Perudo snickered at the thought that the boy, even without the suit, was able to outsmart the Kapre at Level B configuration.

He stepped off the motor and casually strolled over to where the concrete roof was damaged to examine that part more clearly. He ran a finger across one of the miniature craters caused by a high-powered round. He whistled in apparent awe.

"Looks like there was one hell of a party here," he commented to himself. "Too bad I wasn't able to join in myself."

"Feeling's mutual," said the Red X.

Perudo's smile was instantly wiped off his face as he heard the familiar voice coming from behind him. He did a one-eighty to face the crimson thief. Red X stood there, his ragged, black cape draped over his body. Red X's stance gave nothing away to Perudo who found reading the Red X's mood difficult.

"But who said the party has ended?" said the Red X right before throwing a set of x-shurikens Perudo's way at lightning speed.

Perudo had to think fast. He back-flipped as the x-shurikens came at him and the projectiles flew underneath his mid-air form, missing him by mere centimeters. Perudo landed into a crouch. He turned his high-tech mask towards Red X who was preparing to throw another set of x-shurikens. As the x-shurikens took flight. Perudo extended the double whips from his gauntlets under his sleeves.

With expert swings, Perudo easily swatted the x-shurikens from out of the air. Keeping momentum in his whips, Perudo followed up with a counter-attack towards Red X with a downward swing of his right whip. Red X dodged it by side-stepping and the whip missed him by an inch as it created a groove in the concrete. Red X acted quickly and stomped on the whip that was on the floor preventing Perudo to reel it back.

Perudo swung his left whip horizontally towards Red X. Red X anticipated this and amazingly managed to catch the whip in mid-air. Then wrap it around his arm for a firm grip and pulled hard. Perudo effectively had both his hands tied. Red X extended his free arm with the palm glowing crimson. Red X shot an x-taser towards the apparently defenseless Perudo.

Perudo grinned mischievously. As the x-taser was flying at him, he drew back his foot then launched it forward. From the inside of his pants leg came out another whip that extended from his boot. The new whip swatted the x-taser out of the air, much to Red X's surprise. Perudo kept the momentum from the whip from his lg and spu around. As he mad a full circle, he swung out his other leg to extend yet another whip towards Red X.

Red X had to let go of the two whips he was holding down as he jumped backwards to avoid the new weapon swung at him. Red X slid as he landed on one knee. He looked up to his opponent who now had four whips at his command. Red X stood straight up and eyed his opponent with contempt, seemingly unimpressed by the increased number of whips. Red X charged while extending his twin x-blades from his hands. Perudo wasted no time in retaliating.

Perudo continuously swung out his whips by doing a cart-wheeling in the direction of Red X. The master thief had to stop and avoid the incoming sings by stepping sideways and parrying away the whips with his blades. As Perudo was still swinging away, Red X managed to grab the whips that extended out from both Perudo's legs. This forced Perudo to stop moving suddenly.

Red X pulled hard causing Perudo to fall on his back. Red X started to reel in Perudo to where he was. Perudo had other plans though. Perudo shot out the whips from his hand towards the sides where they wrapped themselves around a couple o vent shafts sticking out of the roof. He then activated the powerful motors in his special gauntlets beneath his sleeves to reel in the whips pulling him and Red X back. The master thief was caught off-guard.

Perudo back-flipped as the whips in his arms went taut. Red X was swung upwards and into the air. Red X let go of the whips in mid-air as he reoriented himself. He landed in a crouch facing Perudo who kicked his feet forwards to jump back up just as the whips in his arms disappeared under his sleeves again. Red X took this opportunity to attack by throwing a fresh set of x-shurikens towards his opponent's back.

Perudo sensed the incoming projectiles and spun around with a high kicking motion that swung a leg whip to successfully swat away the incoming x-shurikens followed by the other leg which swung out towards Red X in a down ward motion. But Red X was already on the move, charging towards Perudo. Red X side-stepped so that the whip missed him again. By then, Perudo had no more time to react.

Red X was counting on this moment where Perudo left himself open. He charged in with a spinning jump kick directed towards his opponent's chest. Perudo grunted from the impact as he was knocked down onto his back. Red X moved in, crouched down and pinned down Perudo with twin x-bladed crossed just above his throat. Perudo shot his open hand up and grasped Red X's throat as if he was about to choke him.

For a while there was silence between the two adversaries. They seemed to stare each other down.

"You're move," said Rex in a low tone.

For a brief moment, Perudo seemed to be confused but soon a smile graced his lips. He seemed to take some form of humor in the phrase. No, it wasn't humor. It was more like a nostalgic delight.

"This feel's familiar, doesn't it?" said Red X.

Perudo smiled up at him. "So…you finally remember me, do you?"

"Yeah…I do…"

Indeed, beneath the mask, Nick remembered everything as if it happened yesterday. Up until now it was a mystery why _he_ was given the suit. However he was finding more and more connections by the minute.

"You're wondering why you have the suit? Why the Kapre is hunting you down? etcetera, etcetera," said Perudo.

Red X did say anything back at him.

Perudo wryly grinned. "The truth is…there is no reason for any of this to be happening to you."

"What?"

"Regardless of what you think, you sealed your fate the moment you put on the suit."

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to get this up but I was way to busy with holiday related stuff and I was having trouble defining Perudo's fighting style (the way I imagine him it's similar to Capoeira). And sorry to leave you hanging like this but I wanted to save some stuff for the next chapter since this chap wasn't as "toned down" as I was originally planning. Anyway, please R&R.

Thanks to all those whose reviewed my story. Happy new year.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do my best to avoid copyright infringes.

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Still on the mall's roof.

"What did you mean by that?" asked Red X, pressing the blades to Perudo's neck.

"You were' just lucky…or maybe unlucky, who's to judge?" Perudo answered with a giggle.

"You're not making any sense."

"How much sense do you want me to make?"

Red X was quickly loosing his patience. The only thing stopping him from possibly maiming the guy was the knowledge that he needed answers in a desperate way. Things have changed now. They have changed in a big way. Too many people were now being put at risk by that creature that was out to get him.

One of those people happened to be close to him.

At the beginning of all this it was just him. Always just him. The Red X was a loner. Always. He never had to worry about watching someone's back. And even if it was him underneath the black material of the suit, Nick Davenport was also separated from the Red X in a way. Nick had his own life and the Red X had its own existence that Nick chose to indulge himself in every so often. Nick never had to worry about their two separate existences to blur together. It was never supposed to go any further than that.

But this creature has changed things. To that creature, Nick and Red X were no different from each other. The line that distinguished the two was now nonexistent. For Nick this meant that those close to him were now also in danger. He couldn't afford that.

"Cut the crap, you!" said Red X. "Tell me what I want to know."

"Why the Kapre is after you?"

"Yes!"

"As I already told, there is no reason."

"Do you expect me do believe that?"

Now it seemed even Perudo was getting a bit annoyed himself. His grin was getting smaller. It seemed that Red X just wasn't getting it in his head yet.

"Ask yourself this: Who are you anyway?" said Perudo, catching Red X off-guard. "Who are you? Are you someone who I need to know about? Someone important or related to someone important? Did you do something like invent a cure for cancer or something? If you did, I'd love to know because I, sure as hell, _don't_ know a damn thing about you. I don't even know you're face."

Red X was taken aback. He noticeable relived some of the pressure from his x-blades. The question repeated in his head. Who was he? Well, he thought to himself, actually, he was nobody. There was nothing special about him or his family. Just some high school student with an A average. He was no more special than that. He would be just another face in the crowed if it weren't for the suit…

That's when it hit him. The suit. How did he get it again? It was just given to him at that warehouse back when he met this guy for the first time. Was he supposed to be at that warehouse? No. Was he supposed to witness that meeting? No. Was he supposed to get the suit? No. Was he even supposed to _keep_ the suit? Heck no.

He remembered it, back to that day at the warehouse. After making sure the gangsters were not going anywhere he called the cops anonymously to tell them about the scene. Then, he went home with the suit in his hands. For about two weeks it sat under his bed collecting dust. He told no one else about it. As he went about his normal routines the suit remained in the back of his mind, a persistent thought gnawing at his consciousness. Eventually, during an annual policeman's ball which his mom and dad were obliged to attend thereby leaving him alone at home, curiosity got the better of him.

He wanted to know about it, wanted to try it out for himself, like a ten-year-old kid who simply couldn't wait to play with a new toy. The urge was overwhelming. So that one fateful night he put on the suit and he never looked back ever since.

The answer was clear to him by then. It was all just plain and simple, blind, dumb luck.

"Now do you understand?" said Perudo. "There was never a reason for the Kapre's target to be you. It was you who sealed your fate when you decided to keep the suit for yourself."

Red X's hands went limp. Perudo's grin grew again. "I'm sure you've been having fun with it for a while. But now, you're gonna have to pay up on all those wonderful freedoms you've enjoyed with that suit."

With Red X's guard down for the moment, Perudo found it to be the best opportunity to kick the master thief off of him with his feet. Red X didn't see it coming and fell on his back on the gravel. Perudo quickly got up to his own feet and back-flipped all the way to one edge of the roof. Red x was soon standing again and in a ready stance in case Perudo decided to start the fight again. But it soon became clear that Perudo had lost interest in fighting for the night.

"Well, it's been a blast, dude," said Perudo. "But I'm afraid I have to go before my curfew is up…And I'm afraid I've got no ore answers to your questions tonight."

Red X lowered his guard. Perudo stood tall and gave Red X a farewell salute. "See ya around!"

With that, Perudo jumped off the edge and disappeared into the night.

Red X relaxed himself completely and stood in the middle of the roof alone. After a few seconds of silence, his he reached his hand up to his head to press some hidden buttons just behind his right ear. He was making sure that the miniature transmitter he managed to stick onto Perudo's clothes during the fight was working. It was.

"Sooner than you think," said Red X before he too disappeared into the night.

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At the JCPD Headquarters.

They say crime never sleeps. Ergo, neither does law enforcement. The night shift was about to start and day workers started clocking out just as night shift guys were clocking in. The lobby was busy as always filled with petty criminals arrested moments ago and the usual bunch of citizens with one form of complain or another. Business as usual as far as anyone was concern.

However, up on the third floor, in Commissioner William Bartlett's office, things were not business as usual. He was seated behind his desk smoking a cigar. In front of his desk stood Lieutenant Han Park and Lieutenant Jill Kavanagh, still in their flight suits.

"Okay, run this by me again," said Bartlett with a more than obvious annoyance to his tone.

Han sighed. "As we have already said sir, we observed that a citizen was in danger and we made a decision to act accordingly."

"This citizen was, again, being attacked by…and I'm quoting you, Lieutenant , a seven foot lizard-like beast."

"That is correct sir."

Bartlett was silent. He took the cigar out of his mouth and pressed it down on the ashtray on his desk. He then rubbed his forehead with one hand as he let out a frustrated sigh. It was gonna be one of those nights.

"Sir, I don't understand what the problem is," spoke up Jill. "The fact of the matter is, sir, we acted accordingly to save the life of a civilian. Would you have us do otherwise?"

Han's eyes turned towards Jill in surprise. Speaking up to the commissioner like that? The girl had guts. Too much as would be the case from time to time. Jill had the unfortunate knack of speaking up to her superiors whenever they questioned some of her actions. Most of the time, Jill had proper grounds to justify her actions, but she tended to come off as antagonistic giving others a bad impression of her.

For Bartlett, this was no longer surprising. He was used to this by now as Jill was ent to his office many times in the past. He was no stranger to the occasional rebellious officer. He didn't particularly mind the attitude much as long as the officer in question did their job properly.

"Of course not, Lieutenant Kavanagh," replied Bartlett. "But you have to understand that you fired over five hundred rounds of armor-piercing ammunition at a public mall of all places. I know that in a situation like that you, as officers of the law, would do what you can to save lives. My problem is now we don't have proof of this creature's existence."

Han spoke up again. "But sir, we have dozens of eyewitness testimonies from people at the scene, both at the mall and on the street. Plus, you saw for yourself the damage to our craft."

"all of this is just circumstantial evidence. My worry now is what will the Garland people do now. We've gotten into trouble with them before, you know."

Jill's eyes narrowed. "What would you have preferred, sir? That we call the Titans?"

Han whipped his head towards her. There she goes again. It sounded like it was an improper joke but Jill meant it more as a challenge to the commissioner. And it seemed to have struck home. The commissioner knew what she was going about.

The relationship of the Teen Titans and the JCPD was nothing short of a very close friendship. Each side appreciated the assistance of the other. However this didn't mean that the JCPD called on the Titans regularly in bad situations. Quite the opposite, the JCPD almost _never_ calls on the Titans and they do so only on very rare special and extreme conditions.

It was like an unwritten rule for officers that everyone respected. Many people have often questioned this but they were simply not looking at the reality of it. Despite being heroes, having superpowers and the ability to nail almost every kind of villain from the record, the Titans are, always have, and always will be, officially _civilians_, private citizen whom the police had no right to command or order around.

This is not to say that the JCPD doesn't appreciate the Titan's work. However, one must note that stopping criminals, upholding the law, serving and protecting citizens, were the jobs of police officers. If a crime happens a police officer's duty is to go there himself and do his best to take care of the situation by himself. That was his duty.

Han wanted to change the subject. "Incidentally sir…"

"Yes, Lieutenant Park?" said Bartlett diverting his attention to Han.

I have good reason to believe that this creature is the same one responsible for the incident at the docks last night. The same incident that involved Lieutenant Derek Kavanagh."

Now it was Jill's turn to act surprised. She whipped her head around at the mention of her brother's name. Bartlett raised an inquisitive eyebrow himself.

"You sure about this?" asked Bartlett.

"Very."

Bartlett was silent for a few seconds. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another cigar. He cut the tips put one end in his mouth, and lit the other end with a silver lighter. Bartlett sat back with a exasperated grunt. He could already tell were Han was going with this information.

"If that's the case…" said Bartlett.

"It wakes the creature an official case for the JCPD," declared Han. "Because of this fact sir I--"

"Propose to open a formal investigation?"

"…Yes, sir."

Well, it's certainly an option. But with the way things are now…If this thing is really the same thing that caused that little ruckus at the docks then we will have no choice but to open an investigation. We owe Derek that much. I'll get someone on it as soon as I can."

"Sir--"

"And of course you two will participate. You and Jill are the only cops right now who are ale to describe this thing, not to mention seen it in action. Of course when the investigation gets underway you'll be able to see it through. Does that suit you, Lieutenant?"

"…Yes sir."

"Alright then. You two are dismissed."

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Later in the JCPD Headquarters halls.

"Han, wait up!" called Jill.

Han stopped on the way to the locker room and turned around to face Jill with an almost blank face. Jill stopped right in front of Han with an expression that demanded something out of the pilot. Han let out an exasperated sigh and spoke towards Jill's unsaid question.

"I wanted to tell you as soon as I saw the thing," said Han. "However, as I'm sure you were aware of, we were a little busy at the time."

"I just need to know," said Jill. "What you told the commish…That thing was…"

"The same creature that put your brother in the hospital."

"Are you sure?"

"You don't forget those eyes, Jill."

There was silence between the two of them. Jill dropped her head in thought. Around them, several other officers went about their business never giving Han and Jill as second look. Jill finally looked back up towards Han.

"Alright," she said. "Now I can set my sights to something."

"Jill, Commissioner Bartlett already said that he'll open a formal investigation with us in it."

"Yeah I know and I'm fine with that. But know that If I ever see this thing again, If I ever get the chance to face up to it again, I don't care what anyone, including the commish, says. If I see a chance…any chance at all…I owe that thing for what he did to my brother."

"Jill, that's suicide!"

"I will get that thing, Han. Either help me or get out of my way."

With that Jill walked past Han. Han was left standing there in the middle of the hall with his worries. He had known Jill for a good long time now. She was one of his beast friends and so was her brother, Derek. He would do anything for them. But the way Jill was acting now was worrying him. She was starting to become more and more obsessed with the thought of getting back at that creature.

Something much easier said than done.

Han just remembered he has forgotten to tell her that the creature has changed from the last time he saw it. It was bigger now, meaner too and with the arsenal to back up its temper. They threw over five-hundred rounds of armor-piercing rounds at it and it got back up for more. And their chopper. What was that thing made of?

Han knew he couldn't stop her now. Even though he knew she didn't have a chance in hell on taking on that creature alone, he couldn't stop her from wanting revenge. But he also knew she wasn't stupid. No way she would gall head-first towards this thing, she's much smarter than that. She did mention a while ago that she will only wait for a chance but that posed a whole new problem on its own.

Will she get a chance? How will she know it when she sees it? How will _any_ of them know a chance when they see it? Is there _any_ chance at all? What if none of them could actually stop this thing? What then?

Han was getting increasingly frustrated with his thoughts. He rubbed his forehead with his hand as he groaned out loud.

"They never teach you how to deal with this kind of stuff at the academy," he grumbled to himself.

"Park!" called out a familiar voice.

Han looked up to see Commissioner Bartlett walking up to him.

"Where's Kavanagh?"

"You just missed her, sir. She's gone home already. Is there a problem?"

"Nothing really…It's just that when you mentioned her brother…"

Bartlett hesitated for a second but Han knew where he was going with this. Bartlett was known for many things; among them was his almost father-like attitude towards all his cohorts. This became even more evident ever since the death of two officers, a detective and a patrolman, during a mob case some number of months back.

"Park, you know that you two are valuable on this investigation once it's under way," said Bartlett. "I need both of you in top form. I don't want Kavanagh doing anything rash."

"I understand you sir, but you should know that Jill is no idiot. She won't do anything stupid."

"I still want you to keep an eye on her."

"Always do, sir."

"Good man."

Bartlett nodded, patted Han on the shoulder, then he walked back to his office. Han stayed where he was for some time before deciding to call it a day himself and head home. So that's what he did. He went for a quick stop at his locker to change into his civilian clothes and stash his flight-suit. After that he went down into the parking lot and got into his car, a red Mitsubishi Lan Evo VIII. Something he bought in response to Derek's Subaru Impreza.

On the drive home he remembered what Bartlett said to him. He told him to keep an eye on her. Han knew the Commissioner didn't need to ask.

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Somewhere in the sewers.

It was hurt, but nothing for it to worry about. It's wounds would heal over time (and in its case it was a relatively short time) and soon it would be ready again to go out and hunt for its ever elusive prey.

It waded across the flowing stream of sewage for hours looking for a place to stop. Traveling in the pitch black sewers was no problem for the creature but it hadn't been in the sewers before so it was only natural that it got lost for a bit the first time around. It didn't know that it was somewhere under the west district by the time id decided it found a nice place to rest for it knew that in a only a few hours the sun would rise.

That meant that there was no point in continuing the hunt now.

It stumbled onto a junction in the sewage system where incoming flow was diverted into half-a-dozen routes across the city. There it found a small niche to fit its size It waded across the pool of sewage and got up onto the walkways where service workers would normally walk on if they needed to do work. It slowly walked towards its desired niche in the wall.

When it got there it turned out to be an old closet built into the wall with the door missing. It saw a few bits of old tools which it didn't recognize. With its large hands, the creature cleared the broken and dilapidated tools out of the closet and tossed them into the sewer water to be taken away by the flow.

When it did this it discovered a large rat that was making its home under the remains of what was once a shovelhead. The rat looked up at the gigantic reptilian creature tat had invaded its home. Fear struck the rodent and it immediately scurried away out of the closet. The rat didn't get far though.

In one swift movement, the creature's tail stabbed its sharp tip down onto the rat's body impaling it completely. The creature brought up the rat to its face and examined the rodent. The rat struggled in vain with what little life it had left. That's right, the creature thought, squirm. Get those muscles warm and that blood sweetened. Finally, just when the rat was about to stop struggling, the creature chomped don't on the creature.

The meal was small but after a bad night it was something worth savoring. When the creature was done with its light snack it climbed into the closet and sniggled at the very back of the small space. Day is coming, it knew that much. But it didn't fret. Tomorrow was another night, another chance to go after its ultimate prey which it you would provide a most delicious feast. With thoughts like this in its head, the creature soon relaxed.

Around the creature, not a sound was heard. The world of darkness it surrounded it self with was still. As if time had stopped along with the creature. Nobody knew it was there. Nobody will ever know it was ever there.

And it was there, away from the light day, the Kapre slept.

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Author's note: Things are getting more interesting now. I don't have much to say about this chap. Hope you guys still like everything so far. Pls, R&R.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Again, me no own copyright things…

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Sunrise.

The light from the sun crept slowly inside Nick's bedroom eventually touching his brow and warming his head which caused him to wake. His eyes fluttered with sleepiness until eventually they were fully open and Nick finally greeted the new day. His eyes turned towards the bedside clock. It read 6:14 AM. Not too early or too late for a weekend, he thought.

He tried to get up but he felt a weight on his chest. He looked down to see that it was Tara's arm that was on his chest. He looked to her side of the bed and saw that Tara was still sleeping soundly in her borrowed pajamas. A faint smile crept across Nick's face when he saw how she looked when she slept.

He carefully moved her arm off of him so that he could get up. She stirred slightly as he left her side and sat at the edge of the bed. He stood up and stretched his arms. He moved to wards the window and peeked through the curtains. He didn't want o wake up Tara yet so he didn't open the curtains wide as he usually did. It was in deed morning. Already the hustle and bustle o the city was getting into gear.

He turned around from the window as he heard Tara stir on his bed again. In Nick's absence she seemed to have found some comfort in hugging the pillow Nick used to sleep on.

It had been a pretty hectic night last night.

After the incident at the mall cooled down and the Red X's meeting with the stranger on the rooftop was over, Nick took Tara home. _His_ home. He kept his word and told her everything about that fateful night he acquired the suit and how it's become part of his life since then.

Tara expressed great interest in the subject. She knew from before that Nick himself did not steal the suit from wherever it came from. That was an almost preposterous notion in and of itself. She would've also guessed that there's no way the original owners of the suit would have simply left the thing lying around for just anyone to grab.

The conversation dragged on so long that both teens got too tire to go anywhere but bed. They called Tara's place first to say where Tara would be staying tonight then Nick, being the gentleman that he was offered Tara his bed and that he would take the couch. Tara, of course, politely tried to refuse Nick's offer. Eventually, it was decided that they would both use bed when the two couldn't decided

So with blushing faces, the teens went to bed and did nothing more than that.

Nick seemed to take a bit of humor in that memory. He looked back out into the new day and admired the sunrise for another moment before his thoughts turned to that guy he recently met. That guy who was related to the Kapre. That tracking device was still on him.

The tracking device he used on Perudo was one of a set that he managed to steal away from another bunch of professional thieves he encountered when trying to nab a certain item of value which apparently wasn't just on his Christmas list. Nick moved towards his bed again and reached out under it to the duffel bag that he used to stash the Red X suit. From one of the side pockets of the bag, he took out a plastic case. He opened it up to reveal other similar tracking buttons on one side of the case and a GPS locater on the other.

He took out the GPS locator and turned it on. It displayed a digital map of the local area. A second later it displayed the exact location of the tracking device he planted on his new acquaintance. It was still transmitting. Good. It was also moving. He'd have to follow it. Nick put down the locater on the bed and moved to his bathroom to perform his morning routine. Later he got dressed in day clothes and picked up the locater to turn it off and put it back in the duffel bag.

He took one last look at Tara's sleeping figure as he walked out his bedroom door.

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Parasol's hidden conference room.

"Gentlemen," started Annette Ashford, "this is unacceptable!"

She slammed her fist down at the table and the bang resounded in the mahogany walled boardroom. The rest of the men were taken aback and looked nervous. Ms. Ashford drew her hand back onto her lap and seemed to calmed down a bit. She gave each of her five cohorts a once over to make sure they were listening.

"Can any of you guess why this is unacceptable?" she asked.

The youngest member of the board raised a palm. "Because of the incident at the mall, perhaps?"

"I did not hire you to answer rhetorical questions Mr. Carlson."

Mr. Carlson shut up.

"What is the latest report?"

The Hispanic gentleman, Mr. Lopez , spoke up. "Perudo has submitted that the Kapre has gone into hiding after failing an apparent attempt to destroy the Red X at the mall."

Ms. Ashford raised an eyebrow. "Apparent, you say?"

"Well, ma'am we aren't sure exactly who the Kapre was attacking at the mall. We assume with reasonable conclusiveness that the creature was going after the Red X while he was out of costume."

"Damn the luck. I was afraid of this." Ms. Ashford rubbed her temples with her hands. "As the Kapre increases it's combat levels, it looses it's already limited sense of logic. Back at level D configuration at least it had the sense to not go after the Red X until he was actually in the suit. It's reverting back to animal instincts."

"We're doing our best to solve that problem ma'am. Mr. Johnson's department has been working on that problem for the past few days now."

Mr. Johnson, another old white man, spoke up in response to this. "It would seem that the problem stems from too much hormone concentration, as the result of the transformation, blocks out the logic receptors in the Kapre's brain. We're on the way to finding a method to control this flooding."

"That's not good enough, Mr. Johnson," said Ms. Ashford. "I need results fast."

"We're doing our best ma'am but under these time constraints…"

"You have to do better than that, otherwise the project, every bit of it, is in jeopardy."

"Ma'am, we know that the incident at the mall was bad. But we have faced worse before. Something like this will be simple enough to cover up by Mr. Delaine's department. So we needn't worry so much."

Incompetents, every single one of them. "Don't you see what just happened?"

There was a slightly awkward silence that followed. The five men looked at each other with inquiring looks. Every second the silence dragged on, Ms. Ashford lost more and more of her patience.

"The Kapre attacked the Red X out of costume…and FAILED!!"

The men were taken aback by the sudden loudness of her voice. Ms. Ashford's expression drained the blood from their faces. They could almost see her teeth.

"Let me spell it out for you gentlemen," she said in a much calmer (by comparison) voice. "The Kapre was already in the Level B configuration when it attacked the suit's owner _without the suit on_ and still managed to make a complete mess of the situation. How could that be possible? We know for a fact that the owner of the suit is no one particularly _special_ in any way! Taking care of an _ordinary_ should not have been a problem!"

She let that last sentence linger in the air so that she could make sure her point sank in. And evidently it did. The men were quiet. She continued.

"Gentlemen, we must turn this situation around. I had better see results that I can appreciate for my own satisfaction and for this company's reputation. We cannot afford a failure now."

With that, Ms Ashford got up from her chair and gracefully walked out the door leaving the men inside to themselves. Outside the conference room and in the hallway Ms Ashford walked with slightly hurried steps to wherever she was going. As she walked she passed by Perudo who was leaning against the wall playing with a rubric's cube.

Ms. Ashford took about four steps past Perudo, who didn't react to her presence, before she stopped.

"And do you have anything to say?" she asked without looking at him.

"Maybe it's not the Kapre that's the problem," he answered without looking at her. "Maybe we're just underestimating the Red X too much."

"You said yourself that the person was nothing special without the suit."

"Appearances can be deceiving. Besides, who's to say he didn't get stronger since the last time we met?"

"What do you mean exactly?"

"Our little pet is not the only thing that can _level up_…in a manner of speaking."

"Tsk…you and your games. Just make sure you keep monitoring the Kapre and report back any news."

With that, Ms. Ashford resumed her trek and eventually disappeared from the hall. Perudo, meanwhile, has solved his rubric's cube for about the hundredth time in the past hour. He grinned.

"The only thing left to do now," he said, "is to wait and see which will reach their limit first…"

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Back at the Davenports' place.

Tara walked out of Nick's room with groggy, sleep-filled eyes, a mess of disheveled hair, and a long groaning yawn. She stretched out her arms to get the blood flowing in her muscles again. She stood there for about half-a-minute unconsciously scratching an inch at the side of her neck. Watching her from the dinning table and sipping from a cup of hot green tea, Tomoyo wore an amused smile on her face.

Tomoyo was not supposed to be home that day. The plan was that she would spend the night at her friend's place. That friend of hers also happened to be her publishing agent. They were working on the paperback contract for her book and had expected to take all night. However, they had a break when the publishers decided early on their terms and thus they avoided extra work.

Not wanting to be away from her son, Tomoyo decided that she would just head home that night. She was home way after the two teens had called it a night and gone to bed so she got quite a bit of a surprise when she found her son in bed with a girl. Most Parents would promptly wake up their child and demand an explanation. Tomoyo, however, decided against that and let the two to their dreams.

The fact that the teen girl was in someone else's house was all but forgotten. This became apparent when Tara moved to the wall immediately to her left expecting to find a door. Tomoyo assumed that Tara was looking for the bathroom door in where it would be if she was at her home. Tara's probing hand found nothing but wall and that prompted the girl to open her eyes and look for the door. She was slightly surprised to find the door missing.

"The bathroom is the door behind you, sleepyhead."

Tara literally jumped at the sound Tomoyo's voice. The teenager turned towards Tomoyo with eyes as wide as dinner plates. Tomoyo simply sat there with an amused expression on her face. Tara's lips moved up and down but no words came out of her mouth.

Tomoyo kept smiling at her. "Don't worry. I don't mind you using the bathroom. It's that door right there."

Tara was still frozen for a few moments. Tomoyo made a look as is to ask what she was waiting for. Tara got the hint and, with a nervous grin, entered the bathroom and used it. Tomoyo went back to her cup of tea and the small breakfast she had in front of her. Tara took all of two minutes to use the bathroom and exited in a hurry.

"Welcome back, sweety," said Tomoyo.

Tara giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "I…um, I…Sorry if I made a mess in there or something."

Tomoyo got more humored. "I'm sure you did just fine. C'mon, I made breakfast."

Tara made her way to the dinning able where she took a seat parallel to Tomoyo. When she sat down she looked at her breakfast: an ordinary bowl of oatmeal and a similar cup of hot tea that Tomoyo was drinking. Tomoyo liked to start the day healthy. Tara took a spoon and tried the oatmeal. She liked it.

"Is it good?" asked Tomoyo.

Tara looked up with a smile. "Yes, Mrs. Davenport," she said. Tomoyo giggled a bit at her formality.

Tara continued to eat some more and Tomoyo returned to her own breakfast. The silence drew on and Tara was feeling uncomfortable about eating breakfast at someone else house like this. Tomoyo wasn't looking at her. Tara was now wondering what she could be thinking with regards to her. She thought of last night and how she ended up on the same bed as Nick. She blushed at that thought and immediately felt embarrassed at what Tomoyo might be thinking about her because of it.

Tara felt compelled to say something. "Ummm, Mrs. Davenport," she said, catching Tomoyo's attention. "Just so you know, nothing happened between me and Nick last night."

Tomoyo flashed her a wry smile. "You act as if I would mind if something did."

Tara froze and had a huge blush on her face. Tomoyo got a laugh out of that. She took a sip of her tea and set the cup down..

"I'm kidding," said Tomoyo. "And even if so, I know I can entrust my little Nicky to you."

Tara blushed a bit more. "Um, thanks…I think."

"By the way. Nick must've left early 'cause he was gone when I woke up."

Tara's face turned serious. "Really?"

"He left a note or you. He said he 'was going to finish something'. Do you know what he mean's by that?"

Tara looked back down at her bowl of oatmeal with a thoughtful expression. There were a few feelings going through her when she heard that.

Finish something, he said. She expected that he would've done something like this, after all that happened last night. She expected to feel worried as well. Strangely though, she wasn't worried. Maybe she was confident in Nick's abilities. She had never seen them first hand. Last night was just a taste of what nick was capable of. What more with the suit on. But it wasn't just that. It was an odd sense of security that she couldn't explain.

"Yeah, I think I do," relied Tara. "Don't worry, he'll be alright."

"You sure?"

"Definitely." He had a promise to keep, she thought.

"Great. Then I get you all to myself."

"Eh?" Tara was caught off guard by that response. Already she didn't like where this was going.

"You and I haven't really gotten to know each other. I would really like to get to know more about you."

Tara sweat-dropped nervously. "Um, what's there to know?"

"Don't feel so awkward. I believe parents should get to know the people their children are dating."

Tar was inclined to disagree with that remark. "Well, it's not really a usual thing."

"Either way I still want to know you. Tell me about you're family. About your home."

"My Home?" Tara doesn't usually talk about her home and her family. "Well, I live with my dad. He's the only family I have now. We live in a place just like near the bay."

"What about your mom?"

"I don't have one. Or at least I just don't remember."

"How about brothers and sisters?"

"I don't remember any of those either, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean you don't remember?"

Tara didn't answer right away. She stared at her reflection in her tea. "…Well, it's because…You see, I have retrograde amnesia."

Tomoyo's eyebrows narrowed in great curiosity. She knew what amnesia is and the two general classifications of it: retrograde and anterograde. The former usually entailed that the sufferer couldn't remember past events in their life while the latter entailed that the sufferer couldn't retain any new memory.

Tara continued. "I remember only as far back as the hospital. I woke up knowing only my name and my age. I didn't remember anything beyond that. The doctor who was taking care of me told me that I was found by police near the outskirts of the city. They couldn't find out why I had amnesia. I mean, I didn't have a concussion or anything. Plus they even scanned my brain to make sure. Physically, all that was wrong with me was small case of starvation but that wasn't too serious. They tried to look up may name on the official records but they told me that they couldn't find anything. I was a regular Jane Doe. I did my best to try and remember anything but in the end, nothing ever came back."

"…What happened after that?"

"You know that doctor who took care of me in the hospital? Well, _he's_ my dad now. He adopted me and took me into his home. Even put me through high-school. I owe him big time so I do my beat to make him proud."

"What's he like?"

"He's a great guy. He can be a little bit of a geek though. And h had this old habit of being a little overprotective."

"But sound's like you still love him."

"Of course I do…he's my dad."

"No mom?"

Tara snorted slightly. "Dad's not planning finding dates at the moment. The way he sees it, one woman in his life is frustrating enough."

Tomoyo laughed at that as well. "Well, adopted or not, you two seem to be as close as family."

"Yeah, we are. I don't know what I would do without him."

"Do you ever worry about not being able to remember you're past?"

"Sometimes but on the whole it doesn't bother me."

"Why not?"

"A lot of people have trouble getting stuck in the past. At least for me, it means I have everything to look forward to. I try not to think about who I was. I prefer to see myself as who I am now and who I'm gonna be. Am I making sense?"

"Of course you are. I can understand what you mean. Sometimes it's nice to have only a future to look forward to."

"Thanks."

"Nicky is really lucky to have someone like you."

Tara blushed at that. "Wha…What do you mean?"

"Someone like you is what he needs to remind him about what he's got in front of him."

Tara put some thought into that and seemed to get what Tomoyo meant. Tomoyo smiled at her and Tara smiled back with mutual understanding.

"Well," continued Tara. "It's not like I don't need him too."

Tomoyo raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Being as that I don't have a past, it's kinda hard sometimes to remind myself that I actually exist."

Tomoyo rasied an eyebrow.

"Ok, now you lost me a bit there, hun."

Tara smiled. "I guess you need to be in my shoes to understand me on that. But the thing is Nick reminds me all the time that I exist. And he does it in the ways that matter most. That's why I…"

Tara trailed of with a slight blush on her face. That was all Tomoyo needed.

"I think I know what you mean," said Tomoyo.

Tara blushed a bit more.

Tomoyo spoke up again. "Now…how as last night for you? I hope it wasn't a bumpy ride"

Tara went bug eyed and beet red. "M-M-Mrs. Davenport, what do you mean by--!!?"

"I'm referring to my car. I hope it wasn't that uncomfortable…"

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Parasol headquarters. Out in the hallways.

"I ask you, how can you run a company like this?" asked Mr. Pulaski. "Tha last owner wasn't much of a visionary but at least he had a little more respect for his subordinates."

"What can you expect?" Mr. Carlson replied. "We hadn't been performing up to par lately."

The two men were walking down the halls heading off to work for the rest of the day before going home later in the afternoon. Fresh from the conference room, they were discussing where to go now with the company's latest clandestine project.

"This shouldn't be happening to us," continued Mr. Carlson. "None of our previous projects were this big a failure."

"Are you referring to the _products_ we sold to our last client?"

"Yes. What was his name again?"

"He didn't give us one. Just some alias SW.

"Well, my point is if we can make a 15 foot monster made out of cinderblocks that could take on five super-powered teens, then the Red X shouldn't be a problem."

"The Red X is a totally different case from the Titans. The Red X has too many unknown factors. That plus the tight schedule we were on didn't exactly help in development. Well, there's nothing we can do now except try and push the Red X into a corner. Don't forget the objective of this exercise is to prove the concept of the Kapre to be effective."

"I understand."

Just then they both passed the restroom doors. Mr. Carlson saw it and was reminded that his bladder was bothering him a bit for the last few parts of the meeting.

"I need to use the bathroom," said Mr. Carlson. "I'll see you later."

"Alright. Later."

Mr. Pulaski kept on walking while Mr. Carlson stopped in front of the men's room door. He opened it and entered and let the door close it self. As the squeaky door was swinging back it stopped for the briefest second before continuing again. Mr. Pulaski noticed the pause in the squeaking sound of the door closing and looked back over his shoulder and curiously eyed the door.

He didn't see anything suspicious. He shrugged his shoulders and went on his way.

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Inside the men's room.

The whole room was quiet with just Mr. Carlson inside. Mr. Carlson finished his business and moved towards the sink to wash his hands. The cool water felt nice on his palms and managed to relieve a bit of the stress he was feeling. He looked at the mirror. He saw that his hair was a bit off.

He fixed his hair with his hand still wet from the faucet. After he was done and looked back down at the faucet and shut it off. He shook his hands into the sink to dry them out and looked back up to the mirror to fix his tie. It took him abut two seconds to realize that, as he was looking in the mirror, that there was someone right behind him dressed in all black.

"Mornin' sunshine," greeted Red X. "You and I need to talk."

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: There's been plenty of school-related things that have been needing my attention so I had a bit of trouble finding time to finish this fic. But rest assured I will see this thing through to the end. Pls. R&R


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Again, me no own copyright things…

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Parasol headquarters.

At 98 stories tall it was one of the tallest structures in the whole city. The twin hexagonal towers covered in glass shimmered in the morning light. The two towers were connected at four different points. Three of these connections were sky bridges the spanned the two towers at the 24th, 44th, and 84th floors. The last and most obvious connection was the base of the building itself where the first three floors that comprised the lobby and security offices.

On the front entrance, the daily movement of employees into the building was at its peak. Workers were rushing through the security checks as fast as they could to get to their workstations wherever they were. The inside of the lobby was more like a hotel than an office. From the brown marble floor that gleamed like a mirror, the fancy arrangement of overhead lamps that resembled long, square, paper lanterns, the tall black marble pillars that reached all the way to the ceiling, to the front staff who were dressed in only the cleanest and neatest garments the company could a lot to them.

In front of the building there was a large fountain; A circular pond being fed with water sprouting from the middle of a ten-foot high marble pyramid which, on the front side, bared the company's name and logo. The fountain wasn't in the original design of the build and was actually done afterwards. The reason for this was that the owner of the building had hired a feng shui master to make sure that the building had a positive vibe to it.

According to him, a highway that ran parallel to the building was causing a flow of negative chi energy to directly hit the build. The fountain that was later added supposedly fixed that problem by redirecting all that bad chi somewhere else.

This and many other measures were utilized in the construction of Parasol's corporate headquarters. No expense was spared to make sure that when an outsider to the company enters this lobby he or she would know one thing almost immediately: We are better than you and we know it.

Such was the philosophy of the company's current head, Annette Ashford who sat in her rather large office at the top floor of the east tower, staring out the glass window.

The office was nothing short of huge. But less than ten percent of the entire space was actually utilized. As far as furnishing goes, there was only Ms. Ashford's large, executive, hand-carved, wooden desk, her large hand-built chair, two smaller, much less impressive chairs for guests, and a long red carpet leading from the door to her desk.

As far as decoration went, on the left wall from the entrance was a large print of the _Spolarium_.

The print was a life size replication of the original painting as done by the Filipino artist Juan Luna. The large, 4 x 7 meter, painting showed a rather gruesome picture that depicted an ancient roman scene of dead gladiators, slain in an arena, being dragged off to a shadowed area while a crowd watched with a myriad of expressions on their faces.

The painting was supposed to symbolize the suffering and abuse of the Filipino people during the period when the Philippines were just a Spanish colony. The painting would then become a national treasure of that country and served as a reminder to the people of those painful times long passed and how in the end their perseverance in their pursuit of freedom eventually won.

But, of course, art was open to interpretation. Here was Ms. Ashford's take on it: It shows the results of being weak, the results of not having enough guts, enough ambition to make it to the top. Gladiators by nature were slaves was worth less then a handful of dirt in the Roman empire. They had no hope whatsoever. But there were a few, a very few, that rose above the rest. They had the strength, the passion, the ambition to reach the top. And more importantly, they trampled on anyone and anything that stood in their way.

This was how she saw the world outside her window. This was how she saw it after inheriting the company from her late father. The great masses of people outside existed only to lift up on their shoulders the few who deserved to rise above. She was determined to be one of those few.

No, she thought, she was destined to be one of those few.

The telephone on her desk suddenly rang. She picked up the handset within the first ring.

"Ashford speaking," she declared into the receiver.

"Ahh, Miss Ashford," called back Perudo's voice.

"Yes, Perudo?"

"There was something I forgot to tell you a while ago in the hall. Thought I'd mention it now."

"What is it. It beter not be another stupid request about buying you a new game console or something like that."

"Oh no, this is something much more…fun than that."

Ms. Ashford raised an eyebrow. She knew what Perudo's idea of _fun_ was. "Tell me what you know."

"I was gonna tell you to expect some company today but it seems our guest is already here. He has already made his presence clear to one of your chief managers."

"Is that so?…In that case we should prepare a proper welcome…"

She hung up the receiver and started to get up off her chair. She made for the door while getting a last look out the window as she moved around her desk. After a few steps she did a double-take out the window and noticed a change in the weather.

The sky was darker. The sun was now partially hidden away behind some thick rain clouds. More of the color gray seemed to crawl across the sky. Ms Ashford lingered in the middle of the office as if in quiet contemplation of the sudden turn of the weather.

Eventually she made her way to the door, pressed a switch on the side of the door which caused a large plastic blinds to drop down from the ceiling and covered the whole window. Leaving the office in darkness, Ms Ashford went to prepare for the welcome of their guest.

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Parasol, the men's room.

Mr. Carlson's face turned pale white. He turned around as fast as he could but he wasn't fast enough to avoid Red X's hand around his collar. Red X hoisted the man towards the opposite wall where the stalls were. Mr. Carlson was shoved forcefully into one of the empty stalls and forced to sit down on the toilet there. Red X followed him into the stall and, with Mr. Carlson sitting down, had enough standing room even after he closed the stall door.

Outside, the sign on the small handle in the stall's door went from "vacant" to "occupied" in a flash.

"Y-Y-You're him! Th-Th-The--" mumbled Mr. Carlson.

"I get the point," interrupted Red X. "You know who I am and I scare the living daylights out of you. If you're gonna take a dump in your pants, this is as good a place as any."

The mild toilet humor did nothing to calm Mr. Carlson down any.

"What do you want from me?" asked Mr. Carlson.

"Enough time for me to wring out every gram of useful information out of you."

Red X raised a foot and slammed it into Mr. Carlson's chest with moderate force and he used that foot to pin down the young businessman to the back wall.

"Tell me what you know about the Kapre," ordered Red X.

"I-I-I can't tell you about that."

Red X extended an x-blade off the top of his wrist. "Why not?"

Mr. Carlson swallowed nervously. "Ms. Ashford would have my head if I told any of the Kapre's secrets."

"Can you tell me how that is worse than me cutting off your nose and force feeding it to you?"

Mr. Carlson was sweating a lot now. "T-The Kapre…is a bioengineered anti-personnel attack platform, designed to be as invulnerable to conventional anti-personnel and chemical weaponry."

"That much I've figured out for myself. Anything else you wanna tell me?"

"I don't know what else to tell you. You know what that thing is."

Red X pressed his foot harder down on Mr. Carlson who in turn felt an enormous pressured on his ribs.

"That thing," continued Red X with a slightly angrier tone of voice, "is after me and me specifically."

"Oh, that…"

"Well…talk!"

Red X pressed the foot even harder. It caused Mr. Carlson to gasp.

"I-I-It's nothing personal I assure you! We only picked you because you fit the criteria we needed best, that's all. I got nothing against you, honest."

"You mean this wasn't planned from the beginning?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't screw with me!" Red X almost yelled causing Mr. Carlson to sweat. "You expect me to believe that crap? You people planned this from the start. You are the people who first stole this suit and gave it away. You did that on purpose didn't you? So that I can become your little guinea pig to test on."

"Look buddy, I don't know who you are! None of us do."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! All we know is that Perudo gave the suit away to somebody he thought would use it."

All this was sounding too familiar to Red X. He was getting frustrated by it. He was headed nowhere fast but he knew that in that place were all the answers he wanted. He just needed to know just where to find them. This guy was getting him nowhere at the moment. All he was saying were things Red X already knew. Red X decided he'd go for the direct approach.

Red X let his foot off of Mr. Carlson's chest allowing the man a moment to breath. It was a brief moment however. As Mr. Carlson exhaled Red X lunged both of his hands forward and grabbed his collar. Red X lifted him off his feet and against the wall of the stall.

"This is how this will work," said Red X. "I'll ask a question and you better answer honestly. If you answer "I don't know" then pray to God I believe you. Understand."

Sweating nervously, Mr. Carlson could only afford to nod.

"First question: That thing, the Kapre, is supposed to come after me and only me right? It's not supposed to target anything, or anyone, else?"

"Y-Yes. At least that was the plan."

"So you did notice that you're little creation has been a little loose lately. Why?"

"Well, the Kapre was designed to have the characteristics of a natural predator. It was designed that way because we see it as an advantage over more mechanical and electronic weaponry. Animal-like instincts and body make the Kapre more adaptable than any mechanical weapon of the like. But, the problem is that it's animal instincts can override it's core programming and it will attack others out of anger or other stimulus."

"I see. Next Question: I've seen that thing change its form twice now. What's up with that?"

"The Kapre was also our experimental platform for spontaneous genetic reconfiguration. We designed that thing to be able to changed it's entire physical form with the push of a button."

"Mutation on the fly? You people are crazier than I thought. Do those different configurations have a purpose."

"Each more advanced form possesses higher physical attributes and ability than the previous form. Basically the thing 'levels up' in a sense."

"Alright then. Next Question: Why does it only come out at night? I don't see it at any other time. Is it affected by sunlight or something?"

"No. The Kapre is perfectly capable of operating during the day. The reason why it doesn't come out during the day is because we programmed its mind that way. It was supposed to stay out of sunlight in order to avoid running into the public so we only let it out at night."

"Programmed? So you do have direct control of the thing?"

"Well…uh, that's…I can't--"

Red X slammed Mr. Carlson against the wall hard. "Don't mess with me! Give me a straight answer."

"Y-Yeah we do!"

"From where?"

"Here! Below ground."

Now he was getting somewhere. Red X felt closer than ever to closing this case. He knew what to do now. Go down below into wherever this control room is and shut the place down. He knew he didn't have to kill the thing that was after him. Makin sure that it was shutdown completely was god enough.

"Guess I know where I'm going next then."

Mr. Carlson's eyes went wide as Red X suddenly dropped him and let him fall on his butt. Red X also quickly scooped him back up with one hand and shoved him out of the stall door.

"You're gonna show me where this control room is," said Red X. "I don't think I need to remind you what I can do to you if you don't do as I say."

"Wait. Even if I do lead you to the control center, how do you expect to bypass all out security?!"

"Exactly how do you think I got in here in the first place?"

Red X pressed the button on his belt that turned on the cloaking function of the suit. Within the flash of a second he was completely invisible to the naked eye, particularly Mr. Carlson's wide-as-saucer eyes.

"Now…move," ordered Red X's voice from out of thin air.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

A little later.

Mr. Carlson headed straight for an elevator as soon as he exited the men's room. Once inside the elevator he took out his ID and scanned it into a slot jest below the floor buttons. That was enough for the elevator to know that he wanted to go to a special floor. The elevator bypassed all floors even if that floor was calling it. At the moment it was Mr. Carlson's personal ride.

The elevator traveled for well over two minutes as it dropped below ground into a special basement facility. He never moved from the spot in the center of the elevator. He knew he wasn't alone in there. At the front, right corner of the ceiling there was a security camera that was watching him constantly.

In the security center of the building, the officer monitoring the elevator saw nothing wrong with the situation and thought that everything was normal. Mr. Carlson in the elevator knew better. He also knew that there's still a chance he could get away with the last laugh after this.

Eventually the elevator doors opened into a completely different world from the upper floors. Mr. Carlson stepped out into a stranger hallway. The lights were slightly dimmed, the walls were colored in a dark blue metallic color, and the floor was carpeted with black rubber matting. Directly in front of him was a large, thick glass door with a control panel on the side. Behind the door were a couple of guards wearing all black suits and hi-tech looking gas masks and carrying HK UMP submachine guns. Mr. Carlson showed them his ID. The two guards looked at it.

They took note that he didn't simply insert it into the scanner on the control panel.

They nodded to each other and opened the door for Mr. Carlson from the inside. Mr. Carlson passed as if he would normally but as soon as he was out of earshot the guards pressed the hidden switches in their sleeves that turned on the communicators built into their masks.

The following hallway was long. Walking the entire distance took a little over three minutes. If one didn't know better, it would be as if the hallway was designed to waste time walking to the other side. Mr. Carlson walked down the strange hall into another large door, this one made of steel. He went to the control panel at the side of the door and inputted a code on the number pad. The code registered and the large metal door slid open and revealed a new room.

"This is it," said Mr. Carlson.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, the Red X materialized out of thin air right next to Mr. Carlson. The room was so much different from what he had in his mind. It was an octagonal shaped room with a high ceiling. In the center of the room on a slightly raised circular platform that occupied half the floor space was a hexagonal pillar that was oriented to match the walls. Each of the eight side of the pillar was an individual computer station.

There was a second floor that comprised of a balcony about twelve feet off the ground. Two staircases lead up to it, one each at the two walls following the doorway. The balcony which occupied five of the walls seem to have different workstations on them as well. The room was also dimly lit like the hallway outside with blue walls. Most of the light actually came from the computer monitors which, despite the fact that no one else was there, were all turned on.

"This is where you control that thing?"

"Yes."

"Do you control your other _pets_ from here as well?"

Mr. Carlson hesitated a bit. "Y-Yes."

Red X took a a couple of steps forward and took good look around the room. He was almost sure that it was only him and that guy in the room but there was just a bad feeling in his gut that wouldn't go away.

"One last question," said Red X as he turned towards Mr. Carlson again.

"What is it?"

"Why does that creature have xenothium in its body?"

Mr. Carlson remained silent. He was actually backing away from Red X now but with a defiant look on his face. "I…can't tell you about that."

Red X didn't like that. "What?"

"Anyway id doesen't matter what I tell you now."

"What the hell are you talking about? Answer my question!"

From out of nowhere: "I'll answer for ya' dude!"

Red X went wide eyed and did a full one-eight in a quarter of a second. But it was still not fast enough to avoid the long whip that suddenly came flying at him and wrapping itself tightly around his neck. Red X grabbed the whip strangling him with his hands and tried to pull it off so that he could breathe better, but the strong material wouldn't give.

At the other end of the whip was Perudo's outstretched hand and smiling face. "Took you long enough to get here," he said.

Red X wanted to say something nasty back at him but couldn't at that moment.

"You wanna know why the Kapre has xenothium integrated in its anatomy? Well it's simple really. As Mr. Carlson over there has probably mentioned to you, our little pet project was supposed to be a super monster that could take on just about anything but as adaptable to its environment as a living animal. This was kinda hard since, well, animal tissue doesn't stand up battlefield standards and all. But then the Red X showed up in the city one day and ohhh the wonders of xenothium were finally revealed! That's were it all started. We saw the potential of that material in the Red X.

"It was early in the development stages when we found out that the suit belonged to the Teen Titans. We needed that suit for research purposes. We found the thing to be quite a piece of work. But the suit was flawed in that it was just that…a suit. What we wanted was a semi-autonomous weapon which we could make sure we could control. The Kapre was just that. Xenothium gave it its strength, its resilience, and its invulnerability.

"We gave the suit away, initially just so we could remove any evidence against Parasol. But then I met you. That's when I got quite the idea. We used you as a benchmark for performance test on our little project and though you have managed to completely embarrass our staff constantly over the past few days, we still got some wonderful test data from you which would most definite benefit us in our future projects.

"So I guess in the end we owe you big thanks don't we?" Perudo giggled to himself.

Red X mumbled something.

"What was that?" asked Perudo.

Red X grabbed the stretched body of the whip with one hand. "I said shove it!"

The hand began to glow bright crimson and soon a wave of red electricity shoot through the whip's length and into Perudo who yelped from the shock loudly as he fell to his knees from the shock. That was enough for him to loosen his hold on Red X who managed to untangle his neck.

Seeing how Perudo fell, Mr. Carlson, who was standing at the side, acted accordingly and reached into his business suit to pull out a small HK P9S. The small pistol was a 9mm sidearm that had nine rounds per clip. He aimed the gun right at Red x who turned his head just in time to notice the pistol.

Mr. Carlson fired once. In slow-motion the bullet traveled across the air and made a straight path towards Red X's head. But by the time the bullet had left the barrel, Red X had already anticipated the shot and moved his head accordingly, bending over backwards so that the bullet only barely grazed his forehead.

After the bullet passed, Red X jumped forward as another shot came at him. Red X rolled across the ground narrowly escaping being hit by a third shot that ricocheted off the floor. Red x ended his roll in a crouch. He had an x-shuriken ready and he threw that projectile towards Mr. Carlson. The businessman simply grinned and, amazingly, shot the projectile out of the air with his gun.

This caught Red X off-guard. Mr. Carlson grinned at him and aimed for his head again. AT the moment the trigger was pulled, Red X leapt straight up and the bullet passed by underneath him and hit the floor. Mr. Carlson quickly brought his aim up into the air but by the time he had his sights on his target, the Red X turned on his cloaking device.

Mr. Carlson went wide-eyed as he lost his target. Moments later he felt the gun on his hand being violently kicked off. The small handgun fell to the floor and slid away, out of reach. Red X once again materialized out of thin air and threw a punch towards Mr. Carlson's face. Mr. Carlson proved to be more agile than that. He quickly spun away from the punch, grabbed Red X's arm with one hand and delivered an elbow to the side of the ribs with the other arm.

Red X grunted from the impact. Mr Carlson took this opportunity to use the leverage he had on Red X's arm and forced the thief down onto the floor. Red X looked to be under his control but the crimson thief had one or two tricks up his own sleeve. Red X spun on his butt and swiped away Mr. Carlson's legs with his own. The businessman, as a result, fell on his back and let go of Red X's arm.

Red X rolled away from Mr. Carlson and Mr. Carlson rolled away from Red X. Both stood up at about the same time but Mr. Carlson was the first one to charged in with a flurry of jabs, all of which Red X managed to block. At the last punch that was thrown, Red X quickly grabbed Mr. Carlson's arm and pulled at it to spin him around. Red X used his other arm to put him into a headlock.

Mr. Carlson surprised his opponent by suddenly throwing his head back, hitting Red X on the forehead and momentarily disorienting him. Mr. Carlson took this opportunity to get free of Red X's hold on him, spin around to the back of his opponent, and finally put Red X into a headlock.

"If you're gonna pick a fight with one of us," said Mr. Carlson, "you should be careful not to pick the one person among us who was trained in the Special Forces!"

"Duly noted," said Red X as he reached behind him and grabbed onto Mr. Carlson's shoulders.

Red X put all his strength into flipping the man up and over him. Mr. Carlson flew forward and rolled on the floor a couple of times. Red X was just getting his stance back when suddenly something wrapped around his leg. He looked down and saw it was a long whip. Red X looked to the side and saw Perudo grinning at him.

Perudo pulled once on the whip to tri Red X and caused him to fall on his back. Perudo then grabbed the whip with the other arm and pulled real hard. Until Red x was in the air. Perudo spun the master thief like an Olympic athlete would during a hammer throw event. Perudo spun Red X around the room three times before finally slamming him into one of the computer stations on the central pillar of the room.

With a bone-jarring crash, Red X was slammed into the large plasma screen monitor of the workstation. The screen exploded into a millions of pieces. Red x fell down onto the control panel then onto the floor in a heap. The impact had momentarily stunned him but it was a long moment before he was able to get off the floor with a groan.

He managed to get on his feet when he noticed the barrel of a gun pointed straight at his face. The barrel belong to that of an HK UMP submachine gun which in turn belonged to a guard not unlike the two he saw on the way over here. But the thing was he only saw two at that time. Now, Red X noted with rather nervous detail that he was surrounded by at least two dozen of them at random spots in the room; all with UMP's trained on his head.

Among them was Mr. Carlson who had recovered his pistol and was also aiming it right at Red X's head. Red X was frozen in place.

"So you're the one that everybody's been talking about?" said woman's voice.

Red X slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice. He recognized her instantly.

"Annette Ashford."

A moment of silence between them

"Your skin looks whiter on TV," said Red X.

This prompted the guard closest to him to walk up to him and slap the butt of his gun against his face. The guard retreated leaving Red X only a little bitterer. Ms Ashford seemed to have enjoyed that.

"An undying sense of humor. Just like they all say. You're an interesting man, you know that."

"So I've come to know…"

Ms. Ashford walked a little closer towards Red X until she was only a few feet away. "Do you know what happens now?"

She couldn't tell but under the mask, Nick was staring at her with the utmost contempt. "I don't know…Surprise me."

"Have it your way."

She nodded to the guard closest to the Red X. the guard walked up behind the master thief and slammed the butt of his gun into the back of Red X's head. Red X wobbled for a second or two before falling flat on his face, completely knocked out. At that point everyone in the room relaxed and dropped their guns. Ms Ashford turned away and made for the door.

"What do we do with him now, ma'am?" asked Mr. Carlson.

Ms. Ashford turned to him with a slight grin. "We're taking him to the _island_."

Mr. Carlson didn't need to be told twice. He knew exactly what she meant by that. His eyes turned to the Red X as if he pitied him for the fate she had just given him.

"Don't you wanna know who he is first?" asked Perudo.

Ms Ashford turned back towards Red X's unconscious form for a few seconds. She thought about it. Then she turned away again. "No need. It won't mater in a few hours."

Perudo watched her as she left the room. He then turned towards his fallen opponent. He grinned.

"Now…we test your true skill."

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	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Again, me no own copyright things…

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JCPD Headquarters.

The police headquarters of Jump City was nothing to look down upon. The entire compound was large, covering at least two dozen acres of land area. Within this area was occupied by the main building which was large, tall and "C" shaped with the front facing north. Behind main building, it encompassed large open area used for all sorts of things like drills, gatherings, and all that. This area was the multipurpose quadrangle.

Behind the quadrangle, not connected to the main building, was a smaller building. This was large garage and machine shop where JCPD kept all its vehicles, new, old, custom, or experimental, for tuning, maintenance, and trials. This was also where JCPD tested all its new weapons and gadgets before making them standard issue. This was where the best minds of the JCPD were put to work to develop new tools for use in the war against crime.

Officially, this building is called the JCPD Vehicle and Equipment Resource Center. However, residents of the headquarters have nicknamed the building the "Q branch" after the fictional character and branch from the James Bond franchise.

Finally, behind the Q branch was a small air field. It was designed only for helicopters and that's all that it had. Parked in this airfield were four MD-520N helicopters that the JCPD used for scouting and surveillance purposes. Also present in the airfield was all four of the Cobra Unit.

In the gunner seat of Cobra Two, Jill was seated there going over her controls. She was wearing her helmet on her head, and the printed word, Sparrow, was clearly visible at the side. She was doing a mandatory maintenance routine on her controls. All of the crew of Cobra does this. This was supposedly to enhance the familiarity of the crew to their individual machines.

She made sure that her helmet's mounted gun sight was on. She turned her head to one side. At the bottom on the Apache's nose, the gun turret moved in the exact same direction. Jill turned her head in the opposite direction and the gun below her followed her every move. She repeated a set number of movements and the gun turret followed perfectly.

On the sidelines, Han was seated on top of a wooden crate of missiles. He watched Jill as she meticulously went about her routine checks.

"Yo, Crow!" called out a familiar voice from the side.

Han turned in that direction and saw Captain Jacobs, commanding officer of the Cobra Unit. Jacobs, call sign: Owl, was one of the founding members of the Cobra Unit and had the privilege of being the pilot of Cobra One. He was a former navy pilot though he didn't fly the Apache until he was in the JCPD, instead he flew a Blackhawk helicopter for most of his military career. Flying a chopper was his initial job in the JCPD. He originally flew one of the MD-520N's for about a year until the idea for the Cobra Unit came up.

"Where's Sparrow?" asked the Captain with his habit of always referring to his pilots by their call sign.

"Doing her check-ups sir."

Captain Jacobs turned towards the cockpit of Cobra Two and saw Jill there as he was told. She was completely engrossed in her work and didn't seem to notice his presence.

The captain turned back towards Han with a slightly concerned face. "How is she?"

"What do you mean sir?"

"I mean I know about her brother. And I know how Sparrow is when it comes to things like this." You and I both know that she can be a little vindictive at times like this."

Han sighed. "Sir, I know her better than most people. Sure she's a little off right now, but I'm sure she will keep a level head. Why don't you go ask her yourself how she's doing?"

"I think I will."

Captain Jacobs walked towards Cobra Two. He stood about a dozen feet from the cockpit and called out to Jill. "Hey, Sparrow." She didn't answer. She didn't even look at his direction. She was totally engrossed in her work. Captain Jacobs called again, this time a little louder, but still got no response. He moved closer until he was leaning right against the fuselage of the chopper and called out as loud as he could.

"Hey Sparrow!"

Jill's attention was finally caught and in her surprise swung her head in the direction of the voice that called out to her. Unfortunately, the fact that she was wearing her helmet, with its mounted gun sight, was forgotten for a moment and when she turned her head to her side, the 30 mm M230 chain gun turned along with her head and the barrel of the gun smacked Captain Jacobs square on his shin.

"Oooww-wwwooww!!"

From the side, Han cringed. O did Jill when she realized what had just happened. Captain Jacobs was snow clutching his shin with both hands and hopping around on one foot.

"Crud! Captain, you okay?" inquired Jill with concern.

The captain stopped hopping and cussing ands stood on one wary leg. "Yeah, I'm okay! It's cool!"

"You sure, sir?"

"Let's just say I'm glad you didn't used the integrated silencer barrel," replied Captain Jacobs with a hint of humor. The integrated silencer barrel for the M230 was something the Q branch was cooking up along with other sound dampening modifications to the Cobra Unit's choppers.

"Sorry, Captain," apologized Jill. "I didn't notice you there just now."

"Well it was my mistake to try and catch you when you were busy."

"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes. About what happened yesterday when you went to see the Commissioner."

Jill's expression went a little sour at that. Han noticed this and also heard what Captain Jacobs said. He got off the crate and started moving closer to the where his to colleagues were talking.

To both their surprises, Jill let out a long and exasperated sigh. She looked back down on the two men with a small and almost humored smile. "Is this one of those, "make sure you don't turn this into a personal vendetta" speeches, Captain?"

The Captain turned to look at Han who shrugged his shoulders then looked back up at Jill. "Well…I just wanted to make sure you were fine and all."

"Does it look like I need help, captain?"

The captain was silent for a while then gave slight smile. "No you don't, Sparrow."

"Then I guess we're done here."

"Not quite. I'm also here to tell you guys that you're on call today, along with Hawk and Kestrel in Cobra Four."

"Got it, cap."

"Good girl…"

Captain Jacobs turned to Han. "I'll leave her to you, Crow," he whispered to him.

Han simply nodded his head. Captain Jacobs walked away and left the two of them there alone. Han turned his sights towards Jill who had lost her smile and was staring at something on her dash. Han walked up to the chopper and climbed the up the entry ladder parked right next to the fuselages and peeked into Jill's station.

He noticed she was staring at a photo that was taped to her dashboard.

It was a photo of Jill's family back when she was still in high school, specifically during her high school graduation. Jill was there in the center of the photo, wearing her toga and clutching her diploma proudly to her chest as she smiled. On her right was Derek and on either side of them were their parents.

Han knew the story about their parents well. Jill's dad, suffering from a bad heart condition, had his third consecutive heart attack within four months and died while Jill and Derek were in college. A few years later, Just as Derek and Jill were graduating from the academy, their mother fell into a coma after becoming a victim of a bad car accident and soon passed away a week later.

Ever since ten those two have been holding out on their own. They sort of provided for each other and have always been there when the other needed.

"Is it really that wrong to want revenge?" Jill asked to no one in particular.

"No," said Han.

"Then why is it that even _I_ feel like lecturing myself too?"

"Because you're a cop."

Jill turned her head towards Han.

"As cops our job is to stop people from getting hurt. And as cops we know things like _revenge_ causes people to get hurt."

Jill looked back at the photo on her dash. "I guess you're right."

"I know that Derek is all you've got right now. I want to get back at the guys who did this to him too, you know. But if we loose our heads over something like this, we can't call ourselves cops, not really. You understand what I'm saying, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Why haven't you said anything?"

"About you're brother? If I did, I'd feel like a hypocrite. He was my good friend, you know."

Jill smirked a little. "So you do want a piece of these guys as well, huh?"

"Damn right. And there's another reason why I don't bother to lecture you."

"What's that?"

"I know how good a cop you are. And I know you'll keep your head and do the right thing when the time comes."

Jill sighed exasperatingly. "Wish I had the same confidence."

In the distance, thunder erupted from the clouds. Both Han and Jill looked up into the sky and noticed the spreading storm clouds that had, by then, completely hidden away the sun. All that was left was a blanket of gray casting a shadow onto the city. A few seconds later, more thunder came from the distance.

"Looks like bad weather's coming," said Han.

"Think they'll still call us to fly in this kind of weather?" asked Jill.

"Probably. I mean, It's not like we weren't rained for storm flights. And we've flown in the rain before, we can handle ourselves just fine. Why, are you worried about something?"

"No, It's just that…" Jill paused as she got a good long look at the darkening sky. "…I just don't like rain, that's all."

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A few miles off-shore.

A trio of large speedboat jetted across the waters of Jump City bay towards an almost clear horizon. All three of the boats were almost completely painted in black. The passengers of the boats were no less suspicious. The crews of the two boats on wither side were all wearing black and had their faces covered by gasmasks. The same get-up as the guards down below in Parasols secret control center.

The boat in the middle only had two such guards, one was the driver and the other was a navigator. There where four other passengers on the boat: Annette Ashford and Mr. Carlson, who apparently did not find time to changed out of their business outfits, were seated directly behind the driver and navigator. Behin them, Perudo was seated on a spare seat looking fondly at the last passenger, Red X who was still unconscious, hands bound, and sprawled onto the boat's small deck.

Perudo looked up towards Ms. Ashford. "Are we there yet?"

"No," said Ms Ashford.

Perudo looked back down at Red X. A short while passed by.

Perudo looked up towards Ms. Ashford. "Are we there yet?"

"No," said Ms Ashford.

Perudo looked back down at Red X. Another short while passed by.

Perudo looked up towards Ms. Ashford. "Are we there yet?"

"No," said Ms Ashford.

Perudo looked back down at Red X. Yet another short while passed by.

Perudo looked up towards Ms. Ashford. "Are we there yet?"

"No," said Ms Ashford.

Perudo looked back down at Red X. A slightly longer while passed by.

Perudo looked up towards Ms. Ashford. "Are we th--"

"Ask me that one more time and I'm burying you're Gamestations!" said Ms. Ashford.

Perudo shut up.

There wasn't a need to ask any more any way. They were already there.

The _island_ as they said was a simple uninhabited island some thirty miles off the coast. It was by no means impressive by any measure. The island on the surface had only a little over a hundred square acres of land area and is mainly inhabited by small shrub plants and a few bird species that like to nest there, mainly seagulls. All in all it looked pretty normal. But like most things being used by multi-million dollar corporations with hidden agendas in developing secret black projects, normal only goes as far as the surface.

The trio of boats sped towards the island particularly headed towards a formation of rocks near the island's edge. From a distance, the tip of one of the rocks opened a small hidden hatch where a small camera popped out. The camera panned until it caught sight of the three boats. It seemed to stare for a moment the retreated to its hidden compartment inside the so-called rock.

Seconds later, something strange began to happen in the waters. The rocks in the strange formation began to move aside as If to create an artificial path towards a rock face. Nonetheless the boats did not reduce their speed. Another moment later, the rock face itself began to split in half like a pair of sliding doors.

All three of the boats slipped right through the opening and once the three boats were past the entrance the rock face closed up again and the rock formation slid back to its normal positions. An ordinary person would never be able to tell the difference.

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Inside the island.

The three boast were now inside a large indoor dock where several other similar boast were already parked. The platforms were all occupied by guards wearing black and armed with similar UMP submachine guns. The three boats pulled up and docked themselves onto one side of the platform.

The occupants made their way off the boats and onto the platform. Ms Ashford stepped onto the platform followed suit by Mr. Carlson and Perudo who more or less flipped off the platform trying to show-off. Ms Ashford ignored him and turned towards the last passenger still left on the boat.

"Take him," she ordered. Two of the guards near her nodded once and proceeded to the back of the boat where Red X was still unconscious. They grabbed him by his armpits and pulled him along with his feet dragging the ground. The entire group moved towards the end of large chamber where a set of large elevators were located.

Mr. Carlson went ahead of the group and took out his ID card and inserted it into a slot below the call buttons on one of the elevators. Normally, one would have to press the call button for the elevator and then wait for it to come pick you up. However, individuals like Mr. Carlson had priority access which meant that if he wanted the elevator he'd get it right away. Knowing how impatient Ms Ashford tended to be, he did this more out of caution than courtesy.

By the time the rest of the group had caught up with him. The elevator had arrived and opened its doors. Who ever was inside the elevator knew to clear out and give all the room in it to Ms Ashford's group. When everybody was inside the doors shut and the group travelled down to a floor deep underground. It took only moments for the high speed elevator to take them to their desired floor which was forty stories below the dock the arrived in.

The doors opened to what can only be described as the dream home of Dr. Frankenstein. The space which the elevator opened up to a huge cavernous space filled with strange machines. Men and women in white lab coats littered he place working on a variety of things that apparently needed to be done. The group walked ahead and largely ignored all the strangeness mainly because they've seen this a hundred times already.

As the group progress forward the all passed a row of three large glass cylinders filled with a strange green bubbling liquid and housed a strange looking creature inside. Perudo went ahead of the group to stand in front of the three large cylinders and stared in astonishment despite the fact that he has seen these things numerous times already.

Each of the creatures were strange and weird in their own right but they all shared the common trait of dark, leather-like skin. One creature looked like a large dog, at least two meters in length. Another creature looked like a cross between a bat and a monkey but as large as a man. The last one looked like a man but wasn't a man since it's face bare a single eye and nothing else while its arms, all four of them, were disproportioned from its body; the ones attached to tits shoulders were too big and reached down to its knees and the ones attached just above the waistline were too small almost like a child's.

"Still interested in those things?" asked Ms. Ashford as she walked past him.

Perudo took one last glance at the strange creatures and walked back with the group. "I'm surprised you don't stop to look at them anymore."

"Why would I be interested in such things?"

"They look neat!"

"They are _failures_. Ones that I do not care to reminisce in."

Perudo knew what she was talking about. Those three creatures were the first attempt at the Kapre before it came to the final prototype. All of them lacked what Ms. Ashford wanted in the project and therefore were eventually scrapped. They were preserved simply for the sake of experimental data.

The group finally arrived at a set of doors at the far end of the room. Mr. Carlson again moved ahead of the group to open the door via a control panel on the side using his ID card. Meanwhile the two guards that was carrying the still unconscious body of Red X moved away from the group. They knew they had someplace else to be with their "guest." Ms. Ashford and the rest continued towards the door.

When the door opened it revealed a large control room of sorts, nor that dissimilar from the one back in Parasol headquarters but different in that it resembled more the bridge of the Starship Enterprise up to the seat in the middle of the room directly in front of a large monitor. Ms. Ashford walked up to the seat and fell into it like she belonged there.

Everyone else took their respective positions at different parts of the room. Mr. Carlson moved to a seat at the side that seemed to have been reserved for him and started working the controls on his terminal with practiced ease.

"Ready to record, Mr. Carlson?" asked Ms. Ashford.

"All monitoring equipment is functional," he said. "Now we just have to wait for those two to come together."

"Can I get some popcorn?" asked Perudo who was seated cross-legged on the floor.

"Shut up," said Ms. Ashford.

Perudo seemed to just have laughed that off. He then turned to the main screen that Ms Ashford was completely engrossed in. It showed a familiar figure lying on a cold metal floor. Perudo smiled and wished he really had some popcorn.

He knew he was gonna enjoy the show.

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Somewhere dark.

The first thing to register in his mind was the pain her felt at the back of his head. The second ting to come to his mind was the coldness of the floor which penetrated even the suit. Red X groaned into consciousness and immediately tried to take in all of his surroundings as he usually did.

His surroundings were not that hard to describe: a whole lot of dark covering a whole lot of nothing. As far as he could tell he was on some kind of floor, metal, black, and cold as hell. The farthest wall from where he laid was barely visible but he could tell it was over a hundred meters away. The floor was also a little unusual in that it had a grid of crisscrossing lines that ran the entire length of the floor space, where each square shape on the floor was about four meters wide. The lines on the grid didn't look like they were drawn on though; they looked like opening slots on the floor. He looked up and tried to find the ceiling. It must've been two stories above him.

The last thing that came to his mind was the fact that his hands were tied behind his back. Not a problem. Through his training in martial arts Nick had acquired a rather nice degree of flexibility in his muscles that most professional gymnast would find impressive. Red X was easily able to bring up his tied-up arms over his head and to his front where he could clearly see the rope binding them. He simply activated an x-blade on both wrists and instantly cut through the cord. Soon Red X was back on his feet and looking for a door which was sadly nonexistent as far as he could tell.

"Ahh, you're finally awake," boomed the voice from out of nowhere.

Red X instantly recognized the voice as that of Annette Ashford, the woman who is most likely put him in this room. Normally, he would've been surprised at the sudden booming voice but somehow he was expecting it and he barely reacted to her.

"What's the matter," she continued. Don't you have anything to say? Doesn't the notorious Red X have a witty comeback?"

Red X remained silent and looked up to where he assumed the voice was coming from. He raised one arm with a closed fist and waited a moment before raising a solitary middle finger. The voice of Annette Ashford did not reply and there was a long period of silence. Under the mask, Nick grinned.

"Defiant to the end I see," said Ms. Ashford.

"End?" replied Red X as he dropped his arm. "This isn't the end, miss big-shot."

Ms. Ashford laughed a bit into the mic. "Unfortunately, you no longer have the luxury of being optimistic. Not in this place."

Suddenly, he felt a rumbling at his feet. Red X stood in a combat ready position. All of a sudden, a large panel rose out from one of the lines on the floor at Red X's side. He stepped away and watched as the panel rose all the way up to the ceiling. He examined the panel that came out of the floor. It was flat, painted matte black, and occupied one of the sides of the square shapes that was on the floor.

A moment later, more rumbling came from the floor. Red X turned his head and saw more and more of the same type of panels rise out of the floor in varying distances from him. Some of the panels were parallel and some were perpendicular from each other in perfect ninety degree angles. Some of the panels also formed whole rows side by side, as if creating some sort of path.

Red X didn't realize it until then what was really happening. By the time he finally knew what was happening around him, it was already to late to find a quick escape route. The rumbling stopped when the whole floor space was covered by these vertical panels and that's when Red X came to a very unnerving conclusion:

He was trapped in a maze.

It didn't take long before Red X started to fell like a lab rat. "Tsk, is this the best you got?" he mumbled to himself.

Then he heard it. It came from the other side of the floor and he only heard it through the echoes that reverberated through the walls. Te moment that sound--that roar--came to his ears, he recognized it in an instant. A familiar chill also ran down his spine and he realized the truth. Red X found himself breathing heavily in the thick darkness of the maze he was trapped in.

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At the other end of the maze.

It was convulsing as its entire body began to change once again. The sound of bones breaking and muscles tearing echoed loudly around it.

Starting with its head, the snout extended further out until it resembled the triangular shape of a common lizard like an iguana only with teeth longer and sharper than that of an alligator. Its neck and upper torso gained mass to them and its arms transformed into forelegs as it dropped itself forward and stood on all fours, turning itself from a biped into quadruped.

From the waist back, the hind legs and tail seemed to have doubled in muscle mass. On its back the spikes grew in length slightly. After a moment, it was finished transforming.

Level A Configuration.

With a snap of its neck joints it reeled its neck back and let out a resounding roar that echoed throughout the maze. It could feel it now more than ever; that drive. It was as if every fiber of its being was tingling with excitement over the scent of its prey which it could most definitely detect. Along with it, it could also smell its prey's unmistakable fear.

It knew there will be no more strangling this time. The first chance it gets it will sink its fangs deep into its prey's body and it will feast ten and there without second thought. There will be no more letting the muscles heat themselves. There will be no more letting the blood sweeten itself. There will be no more playing around.

Also, there will be no more escape.

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Author's note: Been a while huh? I deeply apologize for the lateness of this. I was honestly too busy during the finals week of my school with so many important projects that I just had to put this on a bit of a hiatus. But since I'm on vacation time right now, I hope to get back to my normal pace. As usual, Pls. R&R. See you next time.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: (insert disclaimer here)

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Somewhere in the maze.

It was cold, dark, and as quiet as the inside of a grave.

Eventually he managed to get his heartbeat back down to a normal calm rate through some clever breathing exercises he learned of a while back. He had to. In the situation he was in, the Red X knew that loosing himself now would mean a really bad end to an already bad day.

Despite the near complete absence of light, navigating the maze was not much of a problem. The suit's helmet had cutting-edge vision enhancement technology that allowed the wearer to see clearly enough even in pitch-black conditions. Red X was by no means stumbling in the dark. But if course that was only a fraction of the problem. He had to admit to himself that he was lost. He didn't know where the exits were and the path to them. Worse, he wasn't sure there were any exits to find.

But that wasn't the real problem here.

He knew he wasn't alone here. That knowledge alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Plus, he also knew what was there with him. Every step he took was with calculated muscle movement to insure the least amount of noise possible. His eyes and ears were at their most alert state. He could hear his own heartbeat without even concentrating on it.

He was afraid and he didn't deny it because denying it would've only made things worse. He needed that fear to keep him on his toes.

At this point Red X estimated he had walked probably around a quarter mile's worth and at least turned about three dozen corners. He was heading towards a constant northwestern direction looking for the absolute edge of the maze. He left small markers in the form of a small x-sticker that he would leave on the walls so that he may be able to retrace his steps if need be. So far he hasn't encountered _it_ yet and he was hoping he doesn't have to.

Red X approached an upcoming corner ahead. Keeping his ears sharp, he heard nothing but silence. He took a number of steps towards that corner and he was about two steps away from turning when something stopped him in his footsteps and froze his body completely.

Something growled just then.

Something behind that corner Red X was about to turn. It was a low rumbling sound that he simply could not mistake for anything else other than what he perceived it to be. His muscles were frozen and he was summoning every ounce of willpower he had to get them to move. His breathing sped up as he tried to tell his body to do something, anything.

"Move it!" he mumbled to himself under his breath.

The growling sound started to slowly get louder. It was accompanied by the sound of something softly planting itself on the floor, like a paw taking a step forward. That stepping sound was soon followed by another step, then another, then another.

"C'mon! Move!" Red X again mumbled to himself. His legs were trembling uncontrollably.

The growling and the stepping continued. It began to be accompanied by a new sound: the sound of something thick and sloppy, like drool, dripping on the floor. Red X's heightened breathing was evident in the small mist that formed around his mouth every time he exhaled. A moment later he noticed new mists bursting from the corner like the hot breath of some creature, _that _creature.

The growling changed in pitch a bit. It sounded a little more exited, a little more anxious. That's when Red X realized _it_ knew he was there. And it happened to be very happy about it, as if it was handed its meal on a silver platter.

With his body still a bit frozen in place, Red X was actually getting mad with himself. He used all his will power to raise a single hand and clenched it into a fist so tight it hurt his palm.

"You have to move!" he mumbled to himself again before yelling out: "You have a promise to keep!"

In the split second timing of the moment Red X opened his palm and slapped it at the wall. At that same time, the creature from beyond the corner ahead let out a deafening roar. Red X pulled his palm away from the wall to reveal a red glowing x-bomb he left there. At the same time the creature rushed forward and finally appeared out of the corner and started turning towards the master thief. Red x only saw the creature for a brief moment as he was too busy turning round and jumping back in the direction he came from, anticipating the inevitable. The creature saw its prey and immediately lunged for him.

At that precise moment the x-bomb stuck to the wall exploded with the force of a grenade. The explosion happened no less that three feet to the creature's side and the force of it sent the monster slamming into the opposite wall. The explosion also forced Red X's still airborne body to fly off a little further out.

Red X skillfully flipped in mid-air and landed in a crouch facing the creature. It was up against the wall momentarily stunned. It was the first tie Red X got a good look at his opponent's new form it all its gruesomeness. None of it made him feel pleasant in any way.

The creature started to get back on its feet and shake its head from side to side to shake off the dizziness. It looked up and spied its prey who was reeling back an arm as if about to throw something. Red X threw his arm forward and out came flying a newly materialized x-bomb that went straight into the creature's snout. The explosion was powerful enough that it knocked back the creature a good distance until it slammed into the perpendicular wall.

Red X waited a moment for the smoke to clear and to see what kind of damaged the creature has taken. He tried to forcefully slow down his breathing having little success at doing so. When the smoke did clear what he saw made him go bug-eyed. The creature was standing up on all fours with hardly any external damage.

The creature roared at him right before lunging itself at him, front claws open and mouth agape. Red X reacted quickly by bending over backwards then allowing his body to fall flat on the floor. The creature flew over him and missed him by an uncomfortably small margin.

When the creature was past him, Red X flipped forward and rolled away from the creature. He stayed in a crouched position as he prepared for what ever that thing had in store for him.

The creature turned around and faced its prey with hungry eyes. It charged at him swiping away with one claw. Red x dodged bay moving to the side and laying flat against the wall. The creature swung it claw again. Red X slid to the side quickly and the claw only damaged the wall as it inflicted deep claw marks.

With all this movement, Red X almost didn't see the other claw some swinging at him. He reacted by producing an x-blade at the top of his wrist and making spin at a high speed creating his signature wrist buzz saw weapons. He swiped the spinning blade at the incoming claw and cut deep. The creature instantly pulled its claw away while yelping in pain.

Taking this opportunity, Red X produced another spinning blade with his other wrist and swung it at the creature's face. The blade cut deep and the creature was forced to back away and turn its head way from Red X. The master thief moved away from the wall, which he surmised as a dangerous position, and positioned himself in the middle of the corridor.

The creature was still reeling in pain and it swung its bladed tail wildly as a form of defense. Red X narrowly avoided being cut or stabbed by the large bone blade at the tip of the creature's long tale bat managed to parry it away with his two spinning blades. Red X jumped back to put distance between itself and the creature.

The creature soon turned towards Red X again, it eyes a little more vindictive now. Red X didn't want to give it another opportunity to get to him. At this point he already knew he could no longer take this thing in a head-on battle, especially not in this kind of environment. He needed to get away, think of a good plan, and finish this off once and for all.

With that in mind, he made the blades on his wrist stop spinning. Once they were stationary, a pulse of red energy went through Red X's gauntlets and caused the two blades to glow bright. With some fancy swings of his arms, Red X let the two blades fly towards the creature. The creature couldn't see the two projectiles coming fast enough and couldn't react. The double explosions knocked the creature back into the wall again only this time much harder.

Red X saw that his adversary was momentarily stunned and saw his opportunity then and there. He briskly turned on his feet and ran, determined to put as much distance between himself and his hunter. Red X knew the battle has just begun and he knew that if he had a chance of winning he had to play smart.

Red X managed to run a good hundred yards before he heard the creature's roar and stomping feet.

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Back up at the control room.

"He's moving east," said Mr. Carlson from his station. "The Kapre is getting up right now. It doesn't seem severely damaged."

"But it is severely pissed," added Perudo.

From her seat Annette Ashford watched the main screen in front of her showing a digital representation of the giant maze. There were two beeping dots on the digital map; one red and one white. The red dot was moving towards the east side of the maze. The white dot which was immobile for a few seconds started moving rapidly in pursuit of the red dot.

On the outer boarders of the main screen showed live video from overhead surveillance cameras. Every move of Red X and the creature was monitored constantly.

Ms. Ashford sat with her legs crossed and her chin resting on her arm. She was obviously contemplating something and that something was what Perudo just said. The creature was indeed severely pissed.

As her colleges in the meeting earlier that day had pointed out, their latest creation had the alarming tendency to loose control in its higher configuration levels due to an overload of emotion. That was really the only disadvantage of creating something that was mostly organic.

"Getting worried about our little pet?" asked Perudo.

Ms. Ashford looked down and noticed he was grinning at her. She looked away from him and looked towards Mr. Carlson who was busy at his station monitoring.

"Mr. Carlson," she called to him catching his attention. "Give me a summary on the vital monitors."

Mr. Carlson nodded and turned to his controls. He entered a couple of commands into the keyboard and brought up a vital signs monitor screen that looked somewhat similar to that one would find in a hospital, monitoring blood pressure, breathing, etc. Mr. Carlson took a long hard look at the monitors.

"All signs indicate heightened emotional state," declared Mr. Carlson. "It really is getting pissed."

"Told ya!" added Perudo.

"Dammit!" cursed Ms. Ashford. "Is it within control ranges?"

"Right now, we should be able to still have good control over the creature," said Mr. Carlson. "I'm certain that the creature will return to more stable levels as soon as it is able to gratify itself."

"You mean capture the Red X?"

"Yes ma'am. However the longer for it to take to catch the Red X the more frustrated it will be and the more we'll loose control over it. Worst case scenario is we might have to use _that_ in order to stop it."

"Use _that_?" said Perudo. "That's gonna be expensive."

"Well, it's only a last resort."

Ms. Ashford sighed. She knew what they were talking about. What Mr. Carlson was referring to the small pill-sized bomb surgically implanted right in-between the two hemispheres of the creature's brain. Upon detonation, this small bomb would instantly kill the creature. It was a measure to be used in emergencies where the creature would put itself in a position or perform an action that would be damaging to Parasol.

This measure was set as a response to lessons learned from another nearly-failed project. The monster they created was hard to control and, with that monster's gelatinous, semi-liquid physical attributes that gave it its alias, even harder to contain. That monster was only under control when it was unconscious where it reverts back to its human host form. Today, the JCPD have custody over that monster and keeps the host person under a state of perpetual sleep until scientist can find a cure.

"Well, that's not gonna be a problem right?" said Perudo. "I mean, as long as we know that the combat capabilities of the Kapre _exceed_ that of Red X, then we can just sit back and enjoy the show…right?"

Mr. Carlson hesitated to answer and simply chose to go back to his workstation's screen. Perudo turned towards Ms. Ashford. "…Right?"

Ms. Ashford looked at him but was also hesitant to answer. With the past few nights' events still in her memory she was quite hesitant on trying to predict the odds. She looked away from Perudo and remained silent as she focused on the main screen depicting the digital layout of the maze.

Perudo grinned and snickered as he too turned towards the main screen. The two dots were getting closer and closer to one another.

"As they say in Vegas," he said, "place your bets…"

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Somewhere in the maze.

Running was nothing new to him. By now he was used to it. Because of that Nick had developed a higher than average stamina than most people and even some athletes he knew on his school's varsity teams. He could honestly do this all day if he had to.

However, Red X knew that he didn't have all day. He knew this because he could sense _it_ right behind him. He remembered he had managed to knock it out momentarily back there so that he would be able to gain some ground. But he was also expecting the creature to close the gap between them in a relatively short time. The creature was sure living up to his expectations but it was doing it faster than he anticipated.

That's when he remembered that the creature had changed from the last time he saw it. Another transformation, Red X knew, meant that most likely the physical capabilities of the thing had also increased significantly. He had hoped that in the time it took the creature to catch up with him he would've already thought up a plan. But the creature had caught up with him sooner than he thought.

A loud roar echoed from behind him and Red X could almost distinctly hear the stomping of rushing feet. He was running out of time to think up a plan and it looked like he wouldn't be able to come up with something just yet. Without the time to come up with a well-thought out plan he'd have to think on his feet this time.

He turned the corner and found he was going down a straight path, a rather long straight path. He dashed as fast as he could and saw the end after running a hundred yards or so. That's when he heard it; that roar and those stomping feet. Red X turned his head behind him and saw his adversary turning the same corner and coming up after him. He knew he couldn't outrun it and at the rate it was coming, he would be caught in less than six seconds.

Time to think on his feet.

With the creature right at his heels, Red X raised one arm and shot a grappling hook from his gauntlet. The line attached to the side of the wall and pulled himself up. As his feet left the floor and came into contact with the wall, the creature lunged forward. Its front paws barely grazed the bottom of Red X's ankles and left deep gashes in the wall. The creature missed its target and continued forward down towards the floor where it slid a good distance before it stopped itself with its sharp claws.

Red X continued to run up the wall and stopped when he was about thirty feet up. With his free hand he materialized an x-taser and prepared to throw it. The creature bellow was just turning around to face its prey. That's when Red X threw the x-taser straight into the creature's face. The projectile made contact and sent a shockwave of electricity into the creature causing it to roar out in pain.

Red X detached his grappling line and reeled it back into his gauntlet while continuing to run forward horizontally on the wall. He passed over the creature and kicked off the wall so that he landed a few meters from his adversary. The creature finally managed to scrape off the x-taser from its face after several attempts in doing so, evident in the bleeding scratch marks.

The creature turned an angry glare towards Red X who saw the self-inflicted scratch marks on its face already rapidly healing. The creature snarled and looked ready to pounce on Red X again. Red X didn't show any fear this time. Now was not the time for fear.

"You still want some?" he mumbled. "Okay, let's see what that new body of yours has got for me."

The creature was rearing itself to lunge at Red X one more time. Red X was materializing some stuff with his hands under his cape away from the creature's sight. The creature pounced and Red x responded with perfectly timed throws of half-a-dozen sticky-x's from his hands. The projectiles met the creature half-way and upon impact, stretched towards the walls and stuck to them as well as the creature's body, essentially creating an instant web of xenothium-based rubber binds that halt the creature in mid-air.

The creature came to within inches of biting Red X's head off but was stopped by the impromptu binds that held it in place. Red X stood still for a moment as if gloating to his adversary. Red X suddenly jumped back when he noticed the creature's tail was still free and it tried to take a stab at him from above.

The creature began to struggle violently against its binds. Red X watched it squirm and saw that the xenothium binds wouldn't last long but they would last long enough for him to escape. He made to turn and get way but a sound made him turn back. It was the sound of something cracking.

Red X turned around as saw what he heard. One of the walls, particularly on the spot where one of the points of the sticky-x, was cracking under strain. That strain was coming from the creature trying its beast to pull its front leg free and swipe it at its prey.

The creature continued to snarl as it tried to pull its limb away. The wall just kept cracking until it could no longer bear the strain and finally broke a hole in the wall with a loud snap. The sticky-x went with it and Red X had to jump back as the creature's claw swiped at him. The creature missed and instead left a deep claw mark on the floor.

Red X stood back up and simply kept on observing. He looked at the other ends where the xenothium met the walls. They were all cracking and buckling under the strain of the creature's brute force. Soon Red X had to jump back again as the creature's other front claw swiped at him as it broke free when parts of the walls gave way.

The creature continued to struggle apparently oblivious to all the damage it was causing. It started pulling itself forward with its now free front claws. As it did more and more of the wall was starting to break where the red bonds stuck. Red X continued to watch this until eventually an idea popped into his head.

It was a crazy, almost ludicrous, idea. An idea that might not even have that good a chance of working. He briefly considered not going with it but looking back when was the last time he turned down a crazy idea. He was the Red X for crying out loud.

Besides, looking at his current situation, anything was worth a try.

Under the mask, Nick grinned at the thought that what could be his greatest and most threatening adversary would be his ticket out of this joint. He continued grinning as he watched the creature break away from the last of its binds. Red X spread his arms out as if offering himself.

"You want me?" he said.

The creature had most of its binds broken already, along with parts of the wall. It was enough that it was able to lunge forward and take a bite out of Red X. As the creature came at Red X with a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth, the master thief quickly changed his stance, spun around on his heel and delivered a bone breaking roundhouse kick right into the creature's jaw, knocking its head to the side.

"Come and get me!" he shouted at the creature.

The creature growled at him in response. Red X ignored it and turned away, dashing down the straight and turning a corner in the distance. The creature let out a loud, deafening roar just before breaking free from all of its bonds and resuming the pursuit of its prey.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back up at the control room.

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Ms. Ashford in a rhetorical manner.

"I don't know but he really seem to be pushing that thing's buttons," said Perudo.

They both watched the varying video feeds of Red X dashing across the floor of the maze. The dot that represented the master thief was rapidly approaching the eastern edge of the maze.

"Where does he think he's going?" commented Mr. Carlson from the side. "He should know that wherever he runs to, it's always gonna be a dead end."

"He's smarter than that," said Perudo with a wry grin. "Trust me."

Ms. Ashford heard that and suddenly felt a little worried. She forgot the creature's one other weakness besides its tendency to be uncontrollable. The creature itself was not intelligent. It wasn't even at the same level of intelligence as the animals it was based on. Even when it receives commands from it human controllers the commands have to be relatively simple due to the creature's rather primitive logic systems.

It was a weakness that she knew was all to easy to manipulate.

"Crap," suddenly said Mr. Carlson from his station.

Ms. Ashford immediately turned to him. "What is it?"

"Signs are showing the creature's vitals are increasing." He turned towards his boss, "It's getting angrier."

With a snarl of frustration, Ms. Ashford turned back to the main screen.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere in the maze.

Red X estimated that he was pretty close to reaching the very edge of the maze. He knew it would be a dead end when he got there but that was exactly what he wanted. He also estimated that he only had about a hundred yards left between him and the really nasty set of teeth right behind him. That's also something he wanted. That crazy plan was coming into form already.

He turned a few more corners before he could hear that thing's stomping feet again. It was down to the wire now. He had to find that edge wall and fast. He got lucky. At the very next corner he saw that up ahead was a dead end. In this maze, as he came to expect, dead ends mean edge walls.

He turned his head back over his shoulder once. He was not surprised to see his hunter less than twenty yards behind him. Red X turned his head back towards the wall ahead and focused on it. He went into a full sprint and closed the gap between him and the wall as fast as possible.

Behind him, the creature was panting hard as it closed the gap between it and its prey. It mouth was open and drooling profusely. It could almost smell the kill. With the gap shortening, it prepared to lunged at its prey with all the strength its legs could muster.

It was then that Red X finally reached the wall.

In slow motion, Red X jumped off the floor and planted his feet on the wall. As soon as that first foot hit the wall, he started to essentially run up the wall by using the leverage of his feet to push himself up. As Red X continued up the wall the creature behind him lunged up towards him, however, because it was not expecting the wall, reated a little slower but still managed to turn its body sideways and plant all four of its limbs at the wall to act like shock absorbers.

When the creature planted itself on the wall, Red X pushed off the wall and propelled his entire body back in the direction they came from with a acrobatic flip. He landed on the ground in a crouch sliding a bit across the floor as still facing the dead eand where the creature was.

The creature took half-a-second to realize where its prey had gone and made to push off the wall as well. At that precise moment Red X readied eight sticky-x's, four with each hand, and threw them all at the hapless creature as it leapt off the wall into the air. Once the projectiles made impact, it was the same story as it had happened no more than a few minutes ago.

The binds expanded and cemented themselves to the dead end and the walls next to it, once again ensnaring the creature in Red X's sticky trap.

Now logic would've suggested that Red X turn tail and run. But he didn't. Instead, the master thief stood there a good distance away from his adversary which was struggling like crazy to one again free itself. Red X spread his arms again as if offering himself to the creature.

"Come on, you," he said. "Don't you want me?"

The creature snarled loudly and tried to pull itself away from the walls but the binds, which have already been proven to be stronger than welding, held firm. Already, bits of the edge wall were cracking a buckling under the strain.

"That's it, boy," said Red X, urging the creature on.

The creature was apparently oblivious to what it was inadvertently doing. The one thing on its mind was its prey. As it continued to snarl away and pull itself away from the wall, the places where the bonds met the wall started to completely misshape themselves. Parts of the wall were already breaking off with loud snapping sounds.

"That's it," said Red X. "I'm right here, boy. Come and get me."

The creature's claws dug deep into the floor, leaving huge gashes as it pulled and pulled. The whole wall was buckling now and even the walls to the side showed that thy would soon succumb to the strain. As the snapping sounds of the wall breaking apart echoed across the corridor, Red X could help but grin under the mask.

"That's a good boy," said Red X as he suddenly materialized two x-bombs with his palms.

The creature snarled loudly. In one swift motion Red X tossed both explosive projectiles towards the wall behind the creature. The combined explosions from those two x-bombs were all that was needed to seen the wall into it breaking point. The wall practically disintegrated and the creature fell forward and slid across the floor. With a push of a button on his belt, Red X activated his cloaking device and disappeared from sight.

When the smoke cleared, all that was left to seem was a stunned Kapre buried beneath rubble and a gaping hole in the wall.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back at the control room.

"What the hell just happened?!" screamed out Ms Ashford, almost jumping off her chair. "Somebody tell me something! What was next to that wall he just broke through?"

Mr. Carlson turned towards Ms. Ashford with worried look. "It's a service tunnel."

"What?! He's loose in the facility? Can't you track him?"

"Not when his outside the maze. It's not like we have a tracker on him as well."

"Dammit! Send security down ther, now. I want them fully armed. There's no way we can allow Red x to leave this island ali--"

They were interrupted when a loud roar was heard through the speakers in the room. They all turned to the live video feeds from the maze. They all watched as the creature was slowly getting up and shaking off the rubble from its back.

It roared a few more times and it seemed to be in a rage. The creature disappeared from view when it too ran right into the hole in the wall, presumably after its prey. After that all was quiet in the control room for a few brief moments.

Eventually, Ms. Ashford turned to Mr. Carlson. "Tell that thing to stand down."

Mr. Carlson nodded and went to work. He knew the procedure to submit orders to the Kapre almost by heart and he worked quickly with his fingers typing away at the keyboard in front of him. He entred th proper command codes which told the creature to stop in its tracks and finished by pressing the execute button. He then sat back on his chair with a sigh of relief.

A few seconds later a beep from his computer caught his attention and he looked at the screen. The screen displayed an error message saying that the command did not go through. He frantically checked to see if he went through the procedure correctly. He found no mistakes in what he did. He tried again, entering the same command to stand down. However after a few seconds from pressing the execute key, the same alarming message was displayed on the screen.

"Oh no," he said.

Ms Ashford caught that and immediately turned towards him. "What was that?"

"The Kapre is no longer taking my commands," he said as he tried the same procedure again and received the same results as the last two attempts.

Mr. Carlson turned towards Ms. Ashford with a very worried look. "I think it may have just gone rouge on us."

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: I managed to put lots of action here but I'm saving plenty of it for the next few chapters. Usual stuff: thanks to everyone who reviewed. Pls. continue to R&R.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Well, no one has sued me yet…

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

In the control room.

"What do you want to do, ma'am?" asked Mr. Carlson.

The creature was rouge now. There was no telling what it would do. It was also at its highest level configuration. There was a high chance that it was going to cause some considerable damage to both facility and staff. Then there was also the little problem with Red X loose in the facility. No doubt he would be trying to find a route out of the island.

Annette Ashford knew this was no easy task to handle. But she's been through worse and she would not allow herself to panic.

"Sound the yellow alert," she ordered. "Get all the non-security personnel to the designated evac areas. We'll prioritize on containing the situation."

A yellow alert was appropriate for now, she thought. A yellow alert was just to say that there might be a potential problem and we need to be a little careful as opposed to a red alert which meant every man for themselves. If they could isolate Red X and the Kapre they won't have to go into red alert which would forcefully evacuate all the staff present here.

"Got it," replied Mr. Carlson. He then nodded towards the other workers near him who were waiting for orders. He nodded to them.

One of the workers went to work on her terminal and activated the facility-wide alert control. For now it showed green but after a few keystrokes and the proper password, it switched to yellow.

Right then and there, yellow spinning lights that were mounted on the walls of the different rooms and hallways all throughout the facility started to light up simultaneously. A fairly soft siren started buzzing away. All the staff looked up towards the lights and absorbed the information in just a few seconds.

Everyone dropped what they were doing and hurried towards their designated exits. The security personnel, characterized by their black suits, masks, and UMP submachine-guns stayed where they were and stood their ground. More security personnel appeared and took up post all over the place.

Back at the control room, Ms. Ashford and her crew watched all this happen via the security camera feeds.

"Yellow alert sounded," said Mr. Carlson. "I'm activating the Kapre's manual override. Once I send the command, that thing will--"

"Wait," said Ms. Ashford, causing all of the attention in the room to focus on her. She was silent for a moment as she seemed to be in deep contemplation. "Keep monitoring the Kapre with the security cameras. Make sure it's path is clear."

"But what about the manual override?" asked Mr. Carlson.

"Don't detonate it until I give the order."

"…Yes, ma'am."

She turned back to the monitors and watched as the Kapre, their latest creation, wander the hallways still on its preprogrammed hunt for its prey. She assumed the path it was taking was the same as the Red X who has since disappeared from their surveillance systems. That cloaking device built into the suit was a real bother.

"So, you're placing one last bet on your little pet, huh?" asked Perudo with his ever annoying grin.

"The Red X will be brought down," she replied matter-of-factly. "And I will see it happen."

"Is that really a smart move?"

"As someone who is into games, I would've expected you to understand. Right now I have no choice but to put faith in this thing. In its current state it cannot be defeated, not by any means available to the Red X. Plus, it is more than likely that the Red x will not last long in this state. He is still only human and could never match the Kapre in terms of speed and endurance."

"But that way our little pet has been running around, there's no telling what it could do. I'm sure that it can take on X but I'm a little worried it'll tear this place apart while trying, ya know?"

"Well, like someone once said: "Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.""

"Sure…but that guy also said: "It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time" didn't he?"

Ms. Ashford turned to Perudo with a surprised expression on her face.

Perudo simply grinned back. "What? You think you're the only one who reads Churhill?"

"Got him!" suddenly exclaimed Mr. Carlson.

This grabbed the attention of just about everyone in the room. Ms. Ashford especially. "What is it?"

"We found the Red X. He's headed towards the…oh no."

"Where is he headed."

Mr. Carlson told her.

"What!"

"If those two were to butt heads in _there_," said Perudo, "then we really might see some fireworks."

Ms. Ashford knew that the room the Red X was headed towards would not be the ideal place for a battle to be held. And considering the battle capabilities of those two…

There was nothing else she could hope for now. All that was left was to trust the thing she created. And to hop that Mr. Carlson will half fast enough fingers to do as she say if and _when_ she gives the manual override order.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Somewhere inside the facility.

Red X has been running for longer than he cared to remember. First it was the maintenance tunnel then a whole knew series of hallways. It seemed he traded one maze for another. At least this one had more lights and had labeled doors. However so far, he found nowhere that he could go without that creature being able to follow him. From what he has seen, he knew that there was next to nothing that could stand in the way of that thing

Then there was the other issue. That being the alarm that was buzzing and flashing yellow all around him. Ever since that alarm went off Red X has noticed that he encountered no people at all. Something to do with alarm, he had no doubt. Question was: Was he the reason for the alarm or…?

He saw double doors up ahead. Red X charged at full speed and rammed the doors with his shoulder. The doors didn't budge and Red X unceremoniously bounced back onto the floor. A moment of silence passed. Red X groaned audibly and promptly got up off the floor. He walked up to the door, tuned the knobs, and easily pushed the doors aside so that he could walk through.

"That was so not cool," he mumbled on the way into the room behind the doors.

Red X found himself inside a large room with a high ceiling though not as high as the maze he was in a few minutes ago. In the large room, partially lit by a few overhead lamps and the flashing yellow lights, the floor and ceiling were occupied by pillars of bundled pipes held together by welded metal cages. The pillars were arranged in a grid. Red X could count them all with one glance. There were six rows of pillars with five pillars for each row making thirty pillars in total. The pillars were spaced fairly far apart, at least five meters.

Red X moved closer to one of the pillars and examined it closely. It didn't look like a supporting pillar that was built to hold the ceiling and the floor up. Looking up and down, he could clearly see that it looked more like that the ceiling and the floor was built around these pillars. He inspected the pipes. They had numbers on them but he guessed they were more like ID numbers which meant little to nothing to him. He touched the pipes with his hand. It felt a little warm.

In one corner of the room was a recently abandoned control station. Red X guessed that's where a worker would be seated at monitoring and controlling these "pillars" for whatever purpose they served.

Had he a little more time to explore he would have discovered that this room was called the steam exhaust cooling chamber. An unusual name for an unusual room with an equally unusual purpose.

Each of the pillars was actually a cooling tower. The bundles of pipes Red X can see surround and are connected to much bigger pipes where exhaust steam travels through. The bundles of pipes are pumped with a refrigerant which absorbs the heat from the steam in the main exhaust pipes and drops the temperature from a scalding 190 degrees Celsius to a more tamed 32 degrees Celsius. The steam which these towers cool comes from the underground, steam-driven turbines which provide the main power for the entire facility.

Why the need to cool down the steam? Most steam-driven power plants don't really need to cool down their exhaust steam and they just let it spew into the atmosphere and let it cool on its own. But for the hidden underground island research facility, along with the other similar facilities owned by Parasol, the cooling served more as a stealth device.

The exhaust pipes stretched all the way to the surface of the island where the exits for the air was hidden among rocks and foliage to hide them from the naked eye. However it was still crucial that the air coming out of the pipes was the same temperature as the immediate atmosphere above it. This made the exhaust from the pipes virtually undetectable by heat detection.

After all, a supposedly inhabited island that spewed out hot exhaust steam from a concentrated spot on the surface would more than likely attract attention. Obviously, that wasn't acceptable.

But now wasn't the time to think about these things. He needed an exit. He searched for a door aside from the one he entered through. Unfortunately he couldn't find one.

"Dammit," he cursed. "Dead end. Gotta find another way out of--"

He heard a crash somewhere behind him. He turned to see the doors he came through suddenly exploded inwards as they were pounded from behind by the massive bulk of the Kapre. The creature came growling into the room and didn't even slow down from hitting the doors. It continued on towards its designated prey. For his part, Red X stood in the center of the large room unmoving but was by no means surprised.

"Like I said before," he mumbled as the creature barreled down on him. "Persistent."

As the creature closed the distance between them, Red X turned to face the creature. He flexed his knees then his fingers. The creature pounced, claws and jaw wide open. Red X bent down, let his body fall backwards and kicked hard off the floor to jump backwards.

Red X soon hit the floor and his momentum was enough to let him slide back a few feet. The creature, whose prey suddenly became a lot shorter, found nothing to grab and its whole mass continued to fly forward directly over Red X. The master thief was expecting this opportunity. As the creature was directly over him, he brought his feet up and planted them on the creature's stomach area. His hands bent back and he planted his palms on the floor as his butt lifted off the floor.

At one point, Red X was doing a complete head stand with his feet planted on the creature's tummy. Once his body was vertical, Red X used all the muscles in his body to straighten his body and effectively kick off the creature into the air. The Kapre went higher than it had expected and couldn't control itself in mid-air. It ended up unceremoniously sprawling on the floor a good distance away from Red X.

Red X continued his back flip until he was on two feet again, facing away from his adversary and setting his sights to the damaged doors ahead. With the creature momentarily stunned from that counter-attack Red X knew he had the best chance right then and there to make his escape. He dashed for the double doors hoping maybe to gain precious distance between himself and the creature so that he didn't have to get into an unnecessary battle which he knew he had a low likelihood of leaving him unharmed.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

When the creature busted through the double doors the first time it had done more damaged than Red X had first perceived. The frame of the door became unstable and collapsed, raining down a pile of debris that completely blocked the doorway. Red X skidded to a halt right in front of the pile of debris that separated him from his way out. One quick look was all he needed to know that this is gonna take a while to dig out, even with his xenothium-based weaponry.

"Crap…" he cursed to himself.

He heard a familiar deafening roar from behind. The creature had regained its bearings and was now poised to go for another attack, knowing full well that its prey was trapped inside the room. Red X turned his head slightly to look behind him and he saw the Kapre charge at him. He acted instantly and spun his entire body around while throwing a fan of x-shurikens towards the creature.

The creature reacted out of instinct. It skidded to a halt and quickly ducked its head to avoid the projectiles from possibly hurting its eyes. The x-shurikens made impact and the razor-sharp edges dug deep into the creature's skin but did not do much to cause the creature any pain. No longer than a couple of seconds afterwards, the creature's muscles actually pushed out the x-shurikens. The x-shurikens fell to the floor and the creature's skin quickly sealed the wounds.

Red X knew that it wouldn't do much to attack the creature that way but all he needed was a distraction. While the creature was healing its wounds, Red X charged the creature head-on. The Kapre did not see its prey coming towards it until the last second which was by then already too late to react. Red X jumped up into the air and came back down with his feet aimed at the creature's head.

Red X's feet kicked the creature's head into the floor while simultaneously propelling himself up into the air. With one hand, Red X shot a grappling hook towards the top part of one of the pillars close to him. With the other hand, Red X threw a couple of x-bombs back down towards the creature. The two explosive projectiles both scored direct hits at the creature's back causing it to scream in agony.

Red x reels himself up onto the upper part of the pillar and grabbed on to the metal cage with one hand and both feet. He looked back down at the creature. He couldn't see anything. The explosions have left a cloud of smoke that blocked his view. He waited for the smoke to clear so that he could asses the situation. That was a mistake.

The creature soon emerged from the smoke pouncing up towards where Red X situated himself on the pillar. Red X was alert enough to quickly jump off the pillar he was on and towards the next one in the same row. The creature grabbed onto the pillar and its claws dug in the gaps in the metal cage surrounding the bundle of pipes within.

The creature's eyes followed Red x as the master thief clasped onto another pillar nearby. The creature immediately made ready to jump towards the pillar Red X was on and was in the air a second later. Red X saw this coming and also made ready to jump evasively. By the time the Kapre was at the next pillar it prey had already escaped to the next.

This continued for a bit and predator and prey played a dangerous game of tag high above the floor of the room. Red X wanted as much as possible to stay up on the pillars while waiting for an opportunity to get the creature back onto the floor. He had been studying the creature's movements and characteristics in its new form.

The creature was now a quadruped.

That fact in and of itself already meant a lot to Red X. Quadrupeds were more or less designed for moving on level ground and this is where their abilities truly shine. The fastest land animal in the world is a quadruped. Red X knew that on the ground he won't last too long against that thing. He needed to strike where the creature could not reach him.

That was what clicked in his head at the time. Quadrupeds, for all their speed and flexibility on the ground, could not properly deal with anything directly above them. This was Red X's plan. All that was left was to get that thing back onto the floor.

Red X jumped towards the next pillar and he fully expected the creature to follow. Sure enough, it did. But while in mid-air reached out one hand and shot his grappling hook to a more distant pillar than what he was originally headed for. Once the end of the grappling hook made contact with the pillar he reeled himself in. The creature could not predict that Red X would do that and it continued towards the pillar where Red X would've ended up on. It turned its head around a bit before it spotted its target a good distance away.

Red X planted himself onto the pillar he was on around mid-way up off the floor. He waited for the creature to come at him. Predictably enough, it did. The creature would have to jump across three more pillars before it could reach its prey. Enough time for Red X to do what he had to do. What the creature did not see was Red X discreetly planting three x-bombs on the pillar.

"That's it, come to daddy," Red X mumbled to himself. "I got a little surprise for you."

The creature was within striking distance. Red X tensed up, preparing to evade. The creature pounced on him. Red X suddenly flipped his body upwards and clung onto a higher part of the pillar and the creature ended up underneath him.

Red X wasted no time in jumping towards another pillar leaving the creature behind. On his way there he twisted his body around and shot a sticky-x towards the creature which expanded in mid-flight to the sized of a soccer goal and wrapped around the creature which was still on the pillar.

The creature roared in anger as it was again trapped by the xenothium-based rubber-cement compound. After being in the stuff multiple times already, it had developed a deep hatred towards the stuff. It was so angry that it never noticed the x-bombs that glowed brightly under its belly. Red X landed onto one pillar and quickly jumped towards another knowing full well what was going to happen.

Now that he was a good distance away, Red X watched in anticipation. "Ka…"

The x-bombs finally detonated. The resulting explosion blasted away the creature, breaking the sticky-x's bonds as well as completely destroying the top part of the pillar. The area where the explosion occurred quickly filled with hot scalding steam and a spray of liquid refrigerant. The creature went flying off into the distance engulfed in flames and smoke.

"…boom," finished Red X.

The Kapre's burning body sprawled onto the hard floor and hit the wall. Red X watched the creature as it remained on the floor motionless. He then briefly turned to observe the broken cooling tower which was spewing steam and refrigerant all over the place. He looked back towards the creature which was still on the floor, unmoving and apparently unconscious.

Best time if any to run try for that door again, he thought.

Red X jumped down from the pillar and onto the floor. He made a dash for the doorway that was still covered in rubble. Not a real problem. With his suit's powers he can disintegrate that debris in a few seconds. Seconds which weren't available to him until now. He was pretty far away from the door. All the jumping around actually placed him close to the other end of the room opposite the doorway.

One-third of the way to the ruined doors. He turned his head towards where he remembered the creature was downed. It was still there, still unmoving. Red X quickly averted his eyes back to the door. A few seconds passed.

Two-thirds of the way to the ruined door. He turned his head towards where he remembered the creature was downed. It was gone. Red X quickly averted his eyes back to the do—

He skidded to a halt. Already the muscles in his legs and arms were as rigid as planks of wood. His head turned to where the creature was downed a while ago just to reconfirm that he was not hallucinating. It was indeed gone.

He swung his head around the room to try and spot it between the pillars. He couldn't see it. He tried to listen in for sounds other than the hissing of steam from the broken pillar. He couldn't hear anything. Now he was getting nervous. The he noticed it. He also noticed that he noticed _it_ a little too late.

He turned his head up just in time to see Kapre barring down upon him with a gaping jaw. Red X reached out both hands and grabbed at the creature's head and pushed back. The creature's weight brought him don to the floor and on his back. His hands remained firmly on the creature's snout, pushing it back and not allowing any of those razor sharp teeth to even get a nibble of him.

It was a stalemate he didn't want to be him. Already his arms were loosing strength. Red X was soon struggling as his enemy kept putting on the pressure. It won't be long until it would be over for him unless he could think of something.

But he couldn't think of anything. The creature roared as it placed more pressure on its prey and Red X groaned loudly as his arms started to give out under the enormous weight. This was it, he thought. Out of options, out of tricks, out of luck. This was how it was gonna end.

He was finished here and now.

He then noticed the creature's eye staring right down at him, filled with hunger and murderous intent. At first he felt fear. But that fear was brief. Briefer than he had thought.

In the creature's eyes he started to see a reflection. For the briefest moment he couldn't recognize the person in that reflection. That person wearing an ivory skull mask with a red slashing x across the forehead. That's when his mind flashed back to a memory. It was a memory of her, Tara, his girlfriend. He remembered that time long ago that night when he made that promise to her.

Another memory flashed by which was that of his mother, Tomoyo. He remembered the two of them standing together as his father's coffin was laid to be buried. Then he remembered his father, Marvin, before he died. All of these memories were fleeting but then came one that lingered.

He remembered that one night long ago. That night he first put on the suit. The first time he felt it wrap around his bare skin. The first time he felt the suit's cybernetic controls synch with his body's neurotransmitters in perfect harmony. That first night he took the suit out for a ride in the town. How scared he was when he actually talked himself into jumping off a building just to test out the suit. But in that fear and excitement he saw something beyond himself, beyond the life he had bean leading and the life he could've had.

It was freedom. A freedom he could not possibly have fathomed before he ever had this suit. A freedom he experienced every time he put on the suit. So many new dimensions were opened up to him during those nights, those trials, those midnight tribulations, conquering every obstacle he met and leaving his mark for all to fear. He never looked back since that night and his life was never really the same.

His mind returned to the present.

He now saw himself for who he was in the reflection of the creature's eyes. The fear was now gone and it seemed like it would not comeback anytime soon. He was done being afraid. Strength came back to his arms as he gradually pushed the creature's snout away.

"You think you can beat me?" he said in a low tone. "You think you can beat me down here?"

The creature growled in response.

"You think you can mess with me?!" he exclaimed towards the creature. "I'M THE RED X, BITCH!"

Red X let go with one hand and pushed the snout slightly to the side with the remaining hand. With his now free hand he concentrated as much xenothium-based energy as he could, the kind that he would normally use to disintegrate rock and metal. As his hand reached its peak capacity he slammed his palm right into the creature's eye.

The reaction was immediate and predictable enough. The creature screamed in a high pitch as it's eye and most of the side of its face was rapidly burned away. It tried to pull away its head but it was now Red X who was holding it down with his hands. The creature straggled and eventually managed to break free of Red X's grip. It reared its head back in agony as it continued screaming. Its long tail swung around wildly and left a deep gash with its bone-spike tip on the closest pillar to it. Steam immediately poured out scalding parts of the creature's skin further.

Red X tried to gat back up to his feet. The creature's claw suddenly swiped at Red X and tossed him aside like a rag doll. Red X went flying to the side and slammed into the bottom of one of the pillars in the room. He fell on the floor face down and groaning in pain and was barely managing to hold himself up with his hands and knees.

"Son of a…" he groaned.

A loud series of roars caught his attention. He looked up and spotted the creature standing where he was just a moment ago. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Over half of the creature's skin was completely burned off from the combination of heat from the explosions of the x-bombs and the scalding steam from the pipe. Several parts on its body, including the creature's mouth and the part of its face he just incinerated, were literally oozing with the creature's rust-colored blood. It was forming a puddle where the creature stood. Even from a distance Red X felt like gagging when the smell of the creature's burnt flesh and oozing blood reached his nose.

The creature madly charged at the thief, hell-bent on crushing its prey. It had lost an eye but what sight it had left was next to useless as it was blinded by rage. Red X saw the creature coming ang quickly activated the cloaking device on his belt.

The creature pounced at the spot where Red X was but found nothing there but the base of the pillar. It roared out of pain, out of frustration even. It a fit of rage it bared its claws and started swiping at the pillar in front of it, ripping apart the outer metal cage and breaking the bundled pipes inside. Steam shot out, burning its already exposed flesh. It screamed out again and went completely berserk after that.

It started turning every which way as if trying to shake of its agony. Its claws and bladed tail damaged just about everything it its surroundings. More and more of the pillars were opened up and spewed out steam. The floor was shaking from the damaged being done. Steam was spreading everywhere and soon was covering the room in a think white mist.

Red X appeared out of thin air a distance way from the berserk creature, standing his ground ready for more. The creature eventually caught sight of its pray and charged towards him, damaging more of the pillars along the way. Red X stood ready. The creature roared as it charged it readied itself to lunge at the master thief and—

_snap!_

The creature suddenly dropped to the floor and slid a few feet with momentum. After it stopped sliding, it remained completely still. It's jaw was still agape and its eyes wide as saucers. Coincidentally, Red X was also a little wide-eyed.

"What the…" he mumbled.

He remained at the ready and waited for the creature to get up. Nothing happened. He relaxed somewhat but still fully expected the creature to suddenly get up and pounce on him. It never did. Finally he materialized an x-bomb with on hand and tossed it towards the creature. It exploded right at the surface o the creature's burnt flesh. It should've hurt but the creature didn't even so much as flinch.

More freaked-out than relieved, Red X decided to just leave it and get out of the room as quick as he can. He slowly, cautiously, walked towards the door, looking back every now and then at the creature's unmoving corpse.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back in the control room.

Mr. Carlson let out a sigh of relief as he fell back into his chair. He watched as vital signs monitors which were also implanted in the creature to deliver real-time data. Every single one of them flat-lined. He had just finished activating the manual override which detonated a small bomb implanted in the creature's brain that was installed there incase they lost control over it. Now their fears were realized when the creature went berserk and destroyed half of the cooling towers.

Mr. Carlson was the only one relived since his job was done. On the other side of the room, more people on their stations were trying to find a way to control the overloading steam.

"What's the status on the turbines?" asked Ms. Ashford.

One of the workers stopped from her typing and looked towards her boss. "It's no use. Even if we shut down the turbines now, there would still be too much steam left in the boilers that need to be vented out. All that will come up through what was left of the cooling towers."

"What about the other towers? Aren't they functioning"

"The Kapre's rampage has caused the whole cooling system to shut down. The refrigerants are no longer being pumped through the cooling tubes. We cant avoid a blow-out from the vents now. It's inevitable."

Ms. Ashford fell back in her chair. She brought a hand up to her face to show her immense frustration. She turned her sights towards Perudo as if trying to project some of the blame towards him.

Perudo simply grinned back. "Well, you know what they say: You can't win 'em all."

She narrowed her eyes towards him.

Perudo slightly backed away. "Then again _they_ never met you…"

Ms. Ashford groaned out of anger and turned to another staff member. "Sound the red alert."

The worker looked back in slight disbelief. "Ma'am?"

"We have no choice. Go to full evacuation procedures. I want all staff members on shore as soon as possible."

The worker did as she was told and activated the red alert. It meant only one thing for anyone who heard it. There was a problem that couldn't be handled and now everyone had to get way as soon as possible. As soon as the alert was sounded, the small staff of the secret island facility filed into ready submarines which acted more or less like underwater busses. They would transport the staff to undisclosed docks somewhere along the coast.

If this place was discovered by authorities, there would be nobody to question about what it might be. Ms. Ashford also went to lengths on making sure that these facilities were never traceable back to Parasol. If this place was discovered the only conclusion that could ever be drawn out of any following investigation would be that just about anyone with enough money to build it.

And there was no shortage of suspects that had a much, much, more dirtier rap sheet than Parasol. Companies like LexCorp., Wayne Industries, Queen Industries, Amertek, Kord Enterprises, among others were prime choices for suspect.

"You know the drill, we'vew ben through this before. Once you're done at your stations, pack up and we'll mov--"

"What the hell?!" Mr. Carlson suddenly exclaimed.

That turned everyone's attention towards him. "What is it?"

His eyes were locked to the screen in front of him. The vital signs monitors, which should have stayed flat-lined, suddenly beeped to life, at a frequency that was unheard of.

"What is it, Carlson?" demanded Ms. Ashford as she stood up from her chair.

"It…it's still alive…"

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At the steam exhaust cooling chamber

Red X was almost at the door when he stopped and noticed that the red flashing lights replaced the comparatively festive yellow one. It seemed to him that his troubles were nowhere near over that day. He decided to just let it go and move on.

"Keep it together, man," he said to himself.

He continued his trek to the door. Then he heard it. It sounded like nothing he ever heard of before. Like the sound of something bursting and spewing fluids. The he hear a row grumbling sound accompanied by the sound of things slopping to the floors like wet sponges. He slowly turned his head to see behind him.

What he saw was a giant claw come flying towards his head.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's note: Still going. Glad I got a few more reviews this time around. Keep sending me your feedback and I'll keep feeling happy about it. We're almost at the conclusion of this story here. Stay tuned. In the meantime pls. R&R.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: It is here that I declare that I do not own any of this stuff.

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On the surface of the island.

Rain poured from the dark clouds above. It was the middle of the day and the surface of the island would usually be filled with some activity from the small animal population that actually lived on the island.

Somewhere around the center of a small forest that was growing near the eastern part of the island, a small lizard peeked its head out of the burrow. The first thing it noticed was the rain pouring from above. A single rain drop hit it on the nose and it immediately regressed back to its burrow. A few seconds later it let its head out again and measured just how strong the rain was.

The rain was not that strong. Also the lizard was hungry, not having a meal for a whole day. It scurried out of its burrow and quickly made its way to a bush where it took shelter from the rain. It bobbed its head around and didn't seem to find anything edible. It moved on to another bush and searched for any morsel to eat. It looked around for a bit and got lucky.

It spotted a small cricket hiding under a leaf with its back to the lizard. The lizard crept slowly towards its perceived prey. The grasshopper didn't seem to have noticed the lizard's presence. The lizard took a couple more steps and inadvertently shifted a pebble. The cricket was alerted to the sound and its antennae twitched slightly.

The lizard lunged at the cricket and though the insect had now been alerted to the predator's presence it wasn't able jump away fast enough and the lizard managed to bite off part of its hind leg. The cricket leapt into the air with a part of its leg missing and landed back on the ground awkwardly on its side.

The lizard quickly chewed up the bit of leg it caught and swallowed it. The cricket, desperate not to get eaten, started hopping away but with a piece of its leg gone it couldn't get far enough away from the lizard. The lizard, after its small appetizer, pursued the injured cricket.

The cricket managed to reach the edge of a large metal vent that was painted black to blend with the shadows under the bushes. There was a current of rushing air that was coming out of the vent which blocked the cricket's path. The insect turned towards another direction hoping to get away from the lizard. However it was too late in doing so.

Just as the cricket turned to the side, the lizard came out of the leaves lunged at it. The lizard's mouth clamped down on the cricket's head and upper torso. The lizard applied a little more pressure and crushed the cricket's head. The cricket's limbs stopped moving and the lizard finished the whole ordeal by chewing the cricket up and swallowing it whole. After its meal it cleaned the outer part of its mouth by licking it with its exceptionally flexible tongue.

It rested there letting itself digest its first meal in a long time. Then suddenly it felt a rumbling in the ground. It bobbed its head down to watch the pebbles near its feet shake. The hidden vent that were shrouded by foliage and some rock arrangements suddenly started bellowing out white steam. It was slow at first but over a few seconds more and more of the hot vapor started bellowing out.

There was more rumbling on the ground. That was enough to compel the lizard to rush back towards the safety of its burrow. Seconds later, the top of the vent erupted and shot its metal cover high into the air. The remaining twenty-nine hidden vents went the same way, erupting into tall plums of scalding hot steam that extended at least twenty stories high into the air.

This giant plum of steam that spewed out of the island was easily visible in the back drop of the rainy clouds above. It wasn't long until somebody actually spotted it.

On the shore of the mainland, at a weather-monitoring station, the sudden, almost instantaneous increase of the surface temperature of the island did not go unnoticed. The two people who were stationed there, a senior meteorologist and his intern student, noticed it the moment it appeared on their screens.

They were, of course, surprised at the sudden, strange, and especially suspicious phenomenon and there was a moment of debate between them as to what they should do. But they eventually agreed to notify their higher-ups about it. That led to a string of phone-calls that would eventually lead someone calling the JCPD to investigate.

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Back in the steam exhaust cooling chamber.

A giant claw came flying out of the steam towards Red X's face. The master thief had barely enough time to react but somehow he managed to jump to the side. The claw nearly grazed his side. As Red X landed on the floor the claw flew straight towards the ruined doorway. The claw broke right through the pile of debris and cleared the doorway in an instant.

Red X quickly got back up to his feet just as the claw reeled itself back into the steam. Red X stood ready for another attack from whatever that thing was. It was just then the steam was getting cleared a bit. That's when he got his first glimpse of it. His eyes went wide.

"Holy mother of…" he mumbled.

There, in the middle of the steam cloud, was the creature. Only a lot more different than what Red X remembered.

It's body mass had increased dramatically; at least eight times from just a few minutes ago. Red X didn't know if he could still call it a body. The whole mass of the creature has turned into one gigantic blob of muscle with no discernable endoskeleton of any kind.

The claw that came at him was at least four times bigger and several times longer than it was a little while ago. It also seemed that most of its length was hidden away inside the creature's flesh when not fully extended. But that was only its right arm. Its left arm grew much bigger in thickness but seemed to retain its normal (as normal as this thing could go) length and stuck out of the side of the blob-like body. The creature's head, which stuck out of the center of the blob, was the centerpiece of all this.

Its neck had grown to the thickness of a log and was extended a bit as well. The head itself was a bit of an oddity. The right side of the face looked the same from jus a few moments ago. The left side, however, had changed significantly. The flesh became bulbous. Te mouth extended back more and its teeth were larger and outgrew the jaw line and began to stick out in awkward angles. The eye was three times bigger than its right counterpart and stuck out like crystal ball on display.

All over the creature's body were random red sparks that arched from one spot on the blob to another, like a gigantic battery of flesh shortening out. These briefed but bright red electrical arches were loud and sounded like cracking whips which echoed in the room.

The red arching sparks also reminded Red X of something. He didn't ponder long before he figured it out in his mind. With this new thought he slowly looked down onto the palm of his hand where there was red x on the palm. With just a mere thought that red x suddenly glowed with rich xenothium energy.

He looked back up at the newly mutated creature. That had to be it, he thought. The xenothium in its body. It's completely overloading with energy at an alarming rate.

From the moment Red X found out about the xenothium in the creature's body, he had already formulated a few theories on how the body might function given the xenothium. The cells of the creature's body were all laced with xenothium, giving the cells a more rigid structure that resembled plant cells somewhat. The xenothium compound, with is unique property of replicating itself in an almost unlimited and uninhibited fashion given sufficient energy, was the key to the creature's impressive ability to "evolve" at will, he theorized.

For most of the time that xenothium assisted evolution was under control. But now, the xenothium, which was also naturally unstable, was running amuck and the mutation was clearly no longer under control.

The creature's deformed head let out a roar. This snapped Red X back to reality. Just in time too. The creature swung again with its elongated right limb again. Red X once again barely managed to evade the giant claw by jumping aside as it shot towards him. But that was just a start. The creature suddenly whipped the limp sideways and managed to slap Red X hard.

Red X flew high into the air and only barely managed to reorient himself in mid-air to be able to latch onto one of the pillars that was still standing. The creature reeled its long claw back into its body, aimed it, and shot it at Red X like a harpoon.

Red X jumped upwards and the claw flew towards the pillar underneath Red X's airborne body, smashing the whole thing instantly in an explosion of steam and refrigerant. Red X continued in a forwards flip and landed on the creature's extended limb. He slammed down a glowing palm down onto the flesh and blasted xenothium energy into the arm. The arm exploded on a flash of red sparks, burning flesh, and boiling blood. The creature screamed in agony.

Red X hopped off and landed back on the floor in a crouch and quickly rolled to one side to avoid the Kapre's now stumped limb from slamming down onto him. He ran towards the creature's hulking mass. He had a plan to try and finish it off They way it was, the creature was nowhere near as mobile as it was even during the first time Red X saw it some nights ago. It was a prim opportunity to go on the offensive. If he could only reach the head and take it out—

He was suddenly distracted by another form coming at him. He looked towards the creature's behind and spotted the creature's tail, which he momentarily forgot about, coming at him with its spiked bone tip. He skidded to a halt and quickly flipped backwards to evade the spike which dug itself into the floor.

Red X landed on his feet and got a good look at the tail. Like the rest of the thing, it had increased in mass. It had to be four times thicker than it used to be and the bone tip was slightly longer as well. Red X looked towards the creature's front where it saw the thing's head turned towards him, watching him with one eye.

The tail pulled itself out of the floor then whipped towards Red X. Red X saw it in time to react. He ducked down while materializing an x-blade in one hand which he swung upwards to parry away the incoming bone spike. After the tail was over and behind him he quickly got up, turned towards the tail, and with his other hand shot out a snare-x which expanded in mid-air, pushed the bulk of the tail back towards a pillar, and wrapped around the tail and the pillar, binding the two together.

Red X then continued towards the bulk of the creature's body. He reached it and started to run up the side of the body. He could feel the creature squirm under his feet. He ran up onto its back and turned towards the head. He leaped off the back and, while in mid-air, materialized an extra long x-blade from each hand (the end which protruded past the knuckles were a little over three feet long so the blades actually looked like a pair of swords attached to the top of his wrists).

He came down towards the head with the intention of cutting it off where it met the neck. Red X almost would've done it too if it wasn't for the creature's head suddenly disappearing into the creature's body. Red X went wide eyed and had to suddenly concentrate on not landing on the floor in an awkward way.

He managed to land in a roll and quickly got back up to his feet. Red X looked up to try and find where the head had gone and where the neck was supposed to come out off there was a hole in the front of the body which Red X could only describe as a really big anus. Unpleasant as that sounded to him, he didn't have time to puke.

The creature's head popped back out again and its gaping jaw shot towards Red X's prone figure. The master thief flipped backwards as the creature's face dug into the floor. He started backing away from the thing trying to come up with a new plan.

The creature's reeled its head back and then brought up its right arm into view, the one he blew up at the wrist. He saw that where the stump was a new appendage was rapidly growing, complete with long, razor-sharp claws. It was a little bigger than the arm he blew off. Also he noticed something.

The creature's was growing bigger. As in it was only a little over six minutes since he saw the thing after it broke the doorway with its claw. Now, Red X could clearly see it had gained mass. A considerable amount of it. The thing was ballooning.

The xenothium, he thought.

The xenothium is now way out of control. Red X knew, from personal studies he made into his suit and the technology behind it, xenothium is relatively safe when kept in its neutral state. It's only when energy is applied to it, or when it is used to generate energy in a reaction, when it looses a bit of stability but still it is more or less under control.

Red X figured that the creature's xenothium supply was now out of control and feeding on all forms of energy including the ambient heat in the room. The xenothium was replicating the creature's cell at an alarming rate as well as producing an overwhelming amount of energy. Red X wasn't sure about the biological aspect of the creature, but he knew that at this rate it will only be a matter of time before the energy being produced reaches that body's limit and when that happens—

Red X went wide-eyed as realization hit him like one of Robin's birdarangs.

"Can't hang around here anymore," he said before turning towards the door.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Back at the control room.

"This is impossible," said Mr. Carlson. "The xenothium is replicating itself at an unprecedented rate."

"Now how did this happen?" asked Perudo, genuinely curious.

"It seems that when we triggered the manual override charge in the Kapre's brain that triggered its regenerative capabilities and repaired the brain. But at the same time, a short must've happened in the neuron receptors that released the special hormone we designed to keep the xenothium in check. The hormone is now no longer in control and that's why this is happening."

"Now that always struck me as a little weird."

Mr. Carlson turned his head away from the screen and towards Perudo. "What is?"

"We all know this thing can regenerate itself. How come we didn't think of that when we designed the whole manual override thingy?"

"All of the creature's regenerative abilities are triggered by artificial hormones that are in turn controlled by the brain. We also designed the override charge based on the fact that normal brain cells can't regenerate under such conditions."

"So, _normal_ brain cells can't regenerate like that?"

"Yeah."

"How does that work for xenothium reinforced brain cells?"

Mr. Carlson opened is mouth like he was about to say something but he found no words. There was an awkward silence that followed for a few seconds.

"We…never really got around to testing that…" he finally said.

There was an audible sound as Ms. Ashford slapped her palm on her forehead. She also let out a deep groan. She stood up from her chair and straightened herself out and turned to everyone in the room.

"It doesn't matter now," she said. "Carlson," she called to him. "I want you to make sure all the data from this trial is backed up, including up to now when we lost control of the Kapre."

"Yes, ma'am," he said and went to work immediately.

"The rest of you know what to do," she said o the rest of them.

They all went "yes, ma'am" and also went straight to their assigned task, that being wiping the data from all the existing hard drives. The facility was designed to bear no physical evidence to Parasol and now the staff at the control room was going to make sure that there wasn't any electronic evidence as well.

"This is the second one of these secret labs you've lost," said Perudo, catching Ms. Ashford's attention. "You don't feel bad about it?"

"You know as much as I do that these places are a dime a dozen," she replied. "We've got more than enough labs like this in other places. Besides, were not really loosing anything here. The data we gathered is worth more than enough to cover the cost of even three of these labs."

"Always the optimist. That's why I look up to you."

"Oh shut up."

"We have a problem ma'am," said one of the workers.

"What is it?"

"Our radar has detected three aircraft inbound to our location. They're all from the JCPD. It seems someone had already spotted the exhaust steam from the surface and called the police."

"All that in twenty-three minutes," said Perudo. "Who says the law is inefficient?"

"What do you wish to do ma'am," asked the worker. "They might detect us during our getaway."

"Keep the automated anti-aircraft artillery on," ordered Ms. Ashford. "That should give us ample cover."

"Roger."

With in a few minutes everyone was done with what they were supposed to do. They all got up from their seats and filed out of the room. The last to leave was Ms. Ashford who took a second to look back at the display on the main screen.

It still showed the Kapre it its new and grotesque form. As she looked at the image, she didn't know what to think, what to feel. Should she be disappointed for the way the whole thing unraveled in front of her hands? Maybe, but that wasn't what she felt at that moment. She was far from upset. Instead, call it a feeling of mutual understanding between her and the creature.

Both of them have lost their goal in this whole ordeal, even after going through so much trial and tribulation as they have. The difference between them was that Annette Ashford will walk away from this and move on. The Kapre's story will soon end here in this place.

She felt that there was a need to say goodbye. But she didn't want to say goodbye so she stayed silent and left the room.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Outside.

The weather had quieted down a bit and the rain reduced to a mild trickle. However, the dark blanket of clouds still shrouded the surface world in dimness. By then it was around two in the afternoon but the sun was nowhere to be seen.

Several miles away from the island, three helicopters made their way over the ocean. Two of these were AH-64 Apache gunships while the last one was an MD-520N with slight combat modifications (it had a mounted 50 cal. Machinegun on its right side). Both Apache's were also fully armed, complete with Hellfire missiles and Hydra-70 rocket pods.

All three aircraft were painted in the JCPD's signature blue matte paint scheme. One of the Apache's was Cobra Two with the familiar figures of Han and Jill in the cockpit. The other Apache was Cobra Four. In the pilot seat was a man named Kennan with the callsign "Kestrel" and in the gunner seat was a man named Andy with the callsign "Hawk."

"This is Hawk," he said over the radio. "Do you guys see what I see?"

"Yeah, we do Hawk," replied Captain Jacobs flying the 520N. "My thermal imager is showing it as bright as day."

What they were all looking at was the twenty-story high plum of steam that was blowing off a spot on the surface of a supposedly uninhabited island less than five miles ahead of them. Now they knew what those meteorologists were so exited about.

"Volcanic activity, you think?" asked Han.

"Don't think so, Crow," answered Jill. "I've seen volcanic activity before. That's too big to be a natural steam vent and I can't exactly call it a geyser either."

"What do you think it is then?"

"I don't know."

"Well we're here to find out aren't we?" said Kennan. "A couple of fly-bys over that cloud should—wait…Oh crud!!"

The sudden exclamation caught everyone's attention. "Kestrel, what's wrong?!" asked Han. But he soon got his answer without Kennan's response. An alarm blared in Cobra Two's cockpit that both crewmembers knew could meant only one thing: missile lock.

"Crow, we're being painted!" said Kennan over the radio.

"Where's the lock coming from?!" inquired Jill. "The island?"

Suddenly from the surface of the water near the edge of the island three splashes erupted. From those, three missiles came flying out of the water's surface towards the three incoming aircraft a few miles away.

"Holy crap, we got SAMs heading our way!" exclaimed Andy.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Jacobs. "Evasive maneuvers, both of you! Turn on your disco balls!"

Both Han and Kennan were excellent pilots they knew what to do the moment they assessed the situation. Captain Jacobs said to turn on their disco balls. Most people would find that wording in such a situation ridiculous and even hilarious. Apache pilots know better.

"Disco ball" refers to the ALQ-144 infra-red guided missile countermeasure device mounted right behind the main rotor. This device emits pulses of infra-red that confuse any missile coming at the Apache, reducing their accuracy dramatically.

The first missile to come in was headed straight for Cobra Four. Kennan brought the Apache up to its highest speed and proceeded into a forward dive. As the missile came at them, Kennan made a sharp turn to the right. The missile followed turning left. When Kennan saw that he quickly made sharp turn to the left and gunned the throttle. The missile tried to follow but was too close and went wide when it turned to its right. The missile missed its target completely and crashed into the ocean where it exploded under the water.

It was now Han's turn. He copied Cobra Four's maneuver when he saw that the missile was at the right distance from his aircraft. Just like with Cobra Four, the missile went wide when Han completed that tricky curve over the surface of the water. The missile went into the water where it exploded harmlessly.

Captain Jacobs took a simpler approach. He had no choice because unlike the two Apaches his aircraft didn't have a disco ball. He pulled the aircraft up activated the flare launchers built into the rear of his chopper. The launchers shot out a volley of hot-burning flares which missiles seem to just love. The missile went straight for the flares and exploded in mid-air.

"That was a close one, y'all," said Kennan.

"Whoever is on that island," said Andy, "they do not want solicitors."

Their relief was short-lived. Three more splashes from the water's surface near he island, three more heat-seeing missiles in the air heading straight for the three aircraft.

"Aw hell, we got more incoming!" exclaimed Jill.

"Copy that, Sparrow," said Jacobs, "everyone on your toes!"

The first missile that came close came at Cobra Two first. Han saw it and pulled up the aircraft into a steep climb with its nose pointed straight at the sky. The missile turned up to follow its target but soon got confused when it reached the effective range of Cobra Two's disco ball and nearly lost its lock.

Cobra Two reached its peak height of its nose-up climb and Han quickly performed a tricky loop that quickly pointed the nose of the aircraft downwards into the sea. Cobra Two went into a steep dive and the missile struggled to follow. The missile however eventually lost its lock due to the jamming and the chopper's extreme maneuvers and crashed into the sea just behind Cobra Two as the aircraft leveled out over the surface of the water.

In the gunner's seat, Jill tried to keep her lunch in her stomach. "I hate it when you do that, Crow."

Meanwhile, the next missile came at Cobra Four. Kennan waited for the missile to be at the proper distance before he tried to do any maneuvering. It was then that Andy spoke up.

"Twenty bucks says I can shoot that thing right out of the air," he declared.

"What?" said Kennan.

"Just hold her steady for as long as you can afford!"

Andy quickly activated his targeting sights and gripped his control stick. The missile was still was still a good distance away. He figured he ad four seconds before Kennan had to do an evasive maneuver. He aimed straight and squeezed the trigger.

Below the nose of Cobra Four its 30mm chain gun spat out a volley of rounds in the direction of the missile. Some rounds came close, others missed by a mile, but a couple rounds managed to nick the missile's stabilizing fins which caused the thing to veer of course dramatically to its left. Kennan then broke left to avoid the missile as it flew by in a wide margin and exploded in mid-air.

"Alright!" exclaimed Andy. "Nice shootin' huh Kestrel."

"_Good_ shooting, Hawk," replied Kennan, "no such thing as _nice_ shooting."

Meanwhile, Jacobs repeated the same maneuver as the next missile came at him. He activated the flare launchers to shoot out another volley of flares behind him to distract the missile while turning sharply to one side. It seemed to work and the missile veered towards the flares and as soon as the missile disappeared from Jacob's sight and the lock-on warning turned off he let out a sigh of relief.

However the missile missed the flares and failed to explode. It turned sharply in a wide arc searching for its lost target. Amazingly, it managed to find it again.

Captain Jacobs was surprised when his lock-on warning came blaring back. He looked ahead expecting to see another incoming missile from the island but there was none there. It took him only a second to realize that the threat was coming from behind him. He swung his head to look behind his aircraft and spotted the missile heading right for him.

He tried to turn while launching flares again but it was too little too late. Though the missile did turn away at the last second and went for the flares instead, the resulting explosion was in too close a proximity to the 520N. The blast was enough knock loose the main rotor. That was all that was needed to send the aircraft careening out of control. Struggle as he did, Captain Jacobs could not pull his 520N out of its fall.

"Damn the luck," he said.

With a huge splash, the 520N crashed into the ocean, to the horror of both crews from Cobra Two and Cobra Four after looking back to see what the explosion was about.

"Captain!" exclaimed Jill over the radio.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Han. "Kestrel, Hawk, can you guys hover down and take look."

"Wilco!" replied both Kennan and Andy.

Cobra Four hovered over to the crash site since they were closer. Andy switched from his targeting equipment to his surveillance equipment which had infra-red, night vision, the whole nine yards. Andy searched frantically but could only find mangled pieces of the 520N.

"No sign of him," he said.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Jill over the radio.

The atmosphere became heavy. There was silence in the cockpits of both choppers. Jill for one refused to look into the sea anymore. Han looked down on her from where he was seated with a mournful look. He cursed his own inability to do anything to help the situation. Han knew that Captain Jacobs meant a lot to al of them. As the founder of the unit he trained them all together.

"Sparrow, it wasn't your fault," said Kennan. "There was nothing anyone could do."

Jill didn't answer.

"Wait!" exclaimed Andy. "I see him."

He saw it in his visor and instruments. Captain Jacobs emerged from the water with his arms flailing about. He caught his breath and swam towards one of the floating debris on the water and hanged onto it. He looked up to see both Cobra Four and Cobra Two hovering close by. He waved his hand to them signaling he was okay.

"He's fine!" said Andy.

"Thank God for that," said Han.

Han looked down at Jill expecting to see her just as elated. Instead, she was quit, staring out into the ocean. She looked back over her should towards Han and gave him a serious look. Han knew that look. He saw it some nights ago, right outside the Commissioner's office.

"Let's finish this…" she said.

Han nodded back. He turned his flight stick towards the island.

The went full speed, slicing through the air at nearly 200 mile per hour. The surface of the island was less than half-a-mile when their missile alert started blearing again. This time two missiles flew out of the ocean and headed straight for them.

Han didn't bother for some fancy maneuvering this time. He activated the flare launcher's built into the Apache and launched a volley of burning crimson flares. The missiles fell right for it and veered away from the apache as it moved ahead of them. The missiles exploded brilliantly behind the chopper in a bright flash of yellow and orange flame.

It than flash of light, Jill spotted something on the surface of the island near the trees. The light from the explosions behind them must've reflected off of it. It was metallic then. And it was round. It took only a moment for Jill to figure out what it was. Han must have spotted it too because of what he said.

"You see that, Sparrow?" he asked.

"It's a radome!" exclaimed Jill. "That's what's painting us."

"We have to take it out."

"Got it."

Jill's fingers were frantic in pressing a set of buttons on her dash which activated her Hydra rocket pods. "Keep her steady," she told hand as she prepared to fire. She waited until the crosshairs were in the right position before launching a barrage of Hydra rockets raining down into the radome.

The small metal orb on the surface of the island didn't stand a chance against the rockets and went up in a brilliant explosion that took a few of the trees with it. Jill and Han watched from their cockpit as the flames engulfed a large piece of the land. They knew then and there that their missile problems would be over. Jill looked over her shoulder again and looked up at Han without saying a word. Han knew what she wanted to say and didn't say anything back. He eased the controls and flew towards the sources of their problems. That really big steam cloud coming from the surface.

Neither of them could have possibly fathomed what they might encounter on that island. But they seemed to know for sure that they were both fated towards this place. And Jill couldn't help by feel anxious and excited at the same time.

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Author's Note: Not much to say. Except maybe that I'm sorry if I seemed to have over-explained the link between xenothium and the Kapre's body. I never had a chance to explain it in any of the previous chapters so I had to do it here. Well it's almost time to wrap this story up. Give me some time to work on the last chapter. In the meantime pls. R&R.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: it is disclaimed.

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On the island surface.

Cobra Two touched down on a small patch of grass a short distance away from the base of the steam cloud. Inside the cockpit both crew were going through the usual post-flight checks as quickly as they could before reaching down below their seats where they each had a case labeled "assault gear."

Both of them opened up the case almost at the same time. Inside the cases were tactical vest with pockets already filled with ammo clips for their side arms. Below those were a couple of G36K, the carbine version of the famous H&K G36 rifle. Below those were special dual-drum magazines that were pre-loaded with 100 rounds of ammo. And next to that were waist bags that carried three more of those dual-drum magazines.

Han and Jill took their time, putting on the tactical vests and strapping the waist bags filled with 300 rounds of ammo. They took the G36K carbines, loaded the dual-drum magazines, unfolded the buttstocks, and switched the safeties off. Lock and load, Jill thought.

"You know this is crazy, right?" asked Han towards Jill. "Going into an unknown structure with no backup."

"I know," she said, "but tired of waiting around."

"Jill, we're not even sure if what we're looking for is in there."

"It's in there."

"How do you know?"

Jill paused for a moment. "I just feel it for some reason."

They both opened the glass doors on the canopy and hopped out onto the ground with their guns drawn. They quickly scanned the area around them. Nothing but wilderness.

"I don't see anything unusual," said Han.

"And the steam cloud is normal to you?" asked Jill.

"Anything unusual _other _than that."

They moved away from their Apache and went closer towards the base of the steam cloud. They had to lean down to escape a bit from the heat. They saw a few of the vents that were pumping the steam out into the air. It's certain then, this island was not exactly all-natural. Vents like these could only mean a man-made structure somewhere below the surface.

That means there had to be an entrance somewhere.

They began to search but had little luck. They had figured as much. Whoever built whatever structure it was down there would have probably invested quite a bit of resources to make sure it was undetectable (a little late for that at the moment) and inaccessible as far as unauthorized people go.

But Han knew it was just a matter of looking in the right places. He had plenty of experience in this. Back during his patrolman days he had to do a lot of searching, whether it is runaway criminals, missing persons, contraband, and all that stuff. It was all about looking at the right places.

"If I was an inconspicuous entrance, where would I be hiding," he mumbled softly to himself.

He saw bushes at the far end of the clearing they landed on. He smirked slightly and moved towards those bushes. Oh, yeah, definitely a good place to hide something. He looked over his shoulder to check on where Jill was. She was looking as close to the base of the steam cloud as possible but having little luck. Han continued forward towards the bushes. He moved the leaves around with the barrel of his gun and as he walked his foot stepped on something hard and flat.

He looked down and knew instantly he struck gold. There was a large square metal panel that seemed to be built into the ground. It was painted green to match the bushes around it but in the middle of the panel, in bold lack letters, was the label "MAINTENANCE HATCH C34."

"Bingo," Han said to himself. He turned to look back towards Jill. "Yo Sparrow!"

Jill stopped her own searching and turned towards the voice of Han. She had been looking through the ground to get a closer look at those vents. She had noticed that only most of the vents were spewing out steam. There were other vents that barely let out anything. She kept this in mind and moved towards where Han was situated in the bushes.

Han slung his G36K and worked on getting the hatch to open. It didn't take long for him to find the latch at the side. He lifted the hatch open and revealed a long vertical shaft with a built in ladder on one side. Han looked down to see how far the shaft went. He couldn't even see the bottom. Jill came up behind him and looked over his shoulder down into the hole.

"That's a long way down," she commented off-handedly.

"Not getting vertigo are you?" asked Han.

"You do realize I've spent nearly half of my career in a helicopter, right?" she replied as she moved around him and climbed onto the ladder to start he long trek down the maintenance shaft.

"Point taken," said Han as he followed Jill down into wherever it is that they were headed to.

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At the same time.

Red X was lost again. He would admit that much to himself In his haste to get away from the creature he ran all the way to the last crossroad he took before coming to the steam cooling room. Rather than backtrack to a place which he knows to be a dead end he took the path he didn't took. That inevitable led to his being lost since again unfamiliarity with the territory has bitten him in the butt.

Not as if he had a choice though.

He ran through a number of halls and ran across several doors. He checked them all as best he could. Those that were open, he peeked in to see if it led anywhere useful. Those that were locked, he broke open with his weapons. So far, all the doors he saw led to offices, closets, and unused rooms. He must be in the administrative part of the facility, he thought.

Of course this did little to help Red X get to him main priority which was to find an escape route. He knew the first step was to get outside. Even then he knew that if he did get to the outside it wouldn't be as easy as simply strolling back to his place. He had yet to find out he was on an island.

Red X kept going, eventually finding a door with some potential. It was one of those big double doors again. He knew enough from experience that big double doors meant big rooms on the other side. He dashed for it and briefly thought about jumping up and kicking the doors down but instead skidded to halt just in front of it. There was a label on the door but he didn't bother reading it.

Red X pushed his way into a dark room. He was right, it was big.

It actually reminded him of the laboratories back at his school only twelve times the scale. The lights were off a there was actually very little illumination. Most of the lighting in the room came from the flashing red alert sirens and the various computer monitors. There were tables with a variety of instruments on top of them. Most of the equipment was actually turned on. It looked like this place was left in a hurry and Red X didn't doubt that it was.

Other than the tables, there were other large contraptions. He recognized a few of them from a fieldtrip his class took to Star Labs. Some of the other equipment he didn't recognize but he was more or less able to figure out their functions through educated assumptions. However, there were some contraptions he couldn't quite figure out.

One in particular was a big contraption on one side of the room. It was a huge piece of machinery reaching up to the ceiling. The most prominent parts of the contraption were the three vertical glass cylinders in the middle, all of which have been broken open.

Red X moved closer to investigate. As he got closer to the machine his feet started to lightly splash in some kind of liquid. It felt thicker than water but no thicker than oil. And he could tell it had a distinct odor to it. As he moved right next to one of the broken cylinders he noticed that they contained liquid in them as well and they were filled only up to where the cylinder was broken open. Putting two and two together Red X figured out where the wet floor came from.

But he doubted that this machine was used to just keep this liquid. For one thing there didn't seem to be enough of the liquid on the floor that would fill up all the cylinders. There must've been something else in the cylinders. Something to occupy a lot of it space. Something in each of the three.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted one of the monitors attached to the machine. There was a message on it blinking on and off. He moved closer to the monitor so that he could read the message more clearly. And there in big, blinking, capital, letters the message read: "WARNING: BIOLOGICAL STASIS FAILURE. SUBJECTS ACTIVE."

All of a sudden he was getting that feeling again.

It was the same when he would hear the creature's roar. That feeling of alertness telling his mind and body to get ready for something that will come at him. His muscles tensed and his breathing increased in rate ever so slightly, suddenly feeling that he wasn't alone in the room. He started to back away from the screen slowly. He focused his mind on his sense of hearing. With such little light in the room he couldn't depend on his eyes that much. At first there was a long silence. Then something fell to the floor.

It was the distinct sound of glass breaking into pieces accompanied by jolts of electricity. In the corner of his eye, Red X noticed a slight movement of light. He assumed that one of the computer monitors that was still on was knocked over. He turned in the direction of that noise. He saw a bit of movement behind a desk which looked like a flash of a tail from a dog-like creature but it was still too dark to see. He could almost hear the soft growls coming from whatever it was.

He readied himself for the encounter but then something else caught his attention. Another noise in another direction. Red X turned his head in that direction and could barely make out a tall hulking figure in the distance moving a piece of furniture with it long arm. It was slowly making its way towards him. He also noticed that the creature seems to be humanoid except for the fact that it seemed to have an extra pair of arms dangling from its waist.

Now Red X was getting a little nervous. He had two things to worry about now and neither of them was human. In the darkness surrounding him, he could barely make out the two figures that were slowly lumbering towards him. The way they moved was the one that made him nervous the most. They seemed approached him with a sense of desire. It was as if they were drawn to him by some force neither of them could control.

It seemed familiar somehow, Red X thought.

The two figures got closer and closer and Red x could feel no friendliness from either of them. He could hear their soft, low growls of anticipation like animals at a zoo when they know its feeding time as well as the sloshing sounds of their feet as they stepped into the liquid that was spilled onto the floor. He readied himself for a fight against two opponents. That's when he heard a splash right in front of him.

He looked down at his feet to see some ripples bouncing off his toes. A moment later two drops fell from above causing two more ripples. Red X slowly looked up into the ceiling and traced where the drop came from. Hanging upside down from the ceiling was a third creature, one with large bat-like wings. It was looking down at him and drooling profusely.

Then he looked back down to notice the two creatures on the floor with him have stopped moving and both were a little more than ten feet away, close enough for Red X to see every detail of the dark leathery skin on their bodies. To his right was a large, dog-like creature. To his left was a big hulking, one-eyed, gorilla-like thing with an extra set of baby arms on its waist. Above him was a bat-like creature.

A long moment of silence passed between the four occupants of the vast room.

Red X broke the silence by letting out a long exasperating sigh. He pushed his cape back with his hands, crossed his hands in front of him, and, in a flash, extended twin x-blades off the top of his wrists. The three creatures didn't react to this. Red X slowly assumed a ready combat position.

"Alright," he said calmly. "Bring it on!"

The three creatures suddenly lunged at the master thief who was ready to fight back with everything he had.

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Minutes later.

Jill and Han reached the bottom of the shaft. They ended up in a tight and narrow corridor that lead towards a door at the far end. They had a little trouble moving through the narrow passage and their elbows scarped the walls often. They reached the door and knocked on it three times and waited ten seconds with their guns drawn before concluding that nobody was going to answer.

"Guess nobody's home," said Han off-handedly.

"Good," said Jill. "Then we don't need a warrant to do this."

Jill raised a foot and slammed it into the door breaking it open. The two rushed in with weapons at the ready. To their surprise they were met with a light cloud of steam. They stopped in front of the door they just came out of to get a bearing of the room they were in, waving their hands in front of their faces to move away the steam.

They got a good look after their eyes adjusted to the limited light and they both concluded they were inside some large hallway of some kind. However there was something unusual with the hall way they were in. The walls seemed cracked a bit and there was a pungent smell in the air that they couldn't place.

"Look at that," said Han, pointing in one direction down the hall.

Jill followed where Han was pointing and saw a huge hole in the wall that lead into a large room where tall pillars of pipes were broken and spewing out the steam that was spreading across the hallway. The room was not that far and Jill decided to get a closer look. She walked towards the wrecked steam cooling room. As she neared she noticed there was large pieces of metal on the floor and when Jill got to where they were she noticed they were crumpled remains of a pair of double doors.

She looked back up at the wall and surmised that there used to be a door there and something broke out. Something big. She inspected the walls again and indeed there were cracked and buckled, as if that something that broke through the doorway struggled to get through this hallway which was pretty spacious as it was.

Meanwhile, Han was on one knee and inspecting the floor. He waved his hand around to move the steam out of the way. That's when he saw it: traces of some kind of thick rust-colored liquid on the floor. He uses his index finger to swipe some of the liquid off the floor and brought it up to his nose to sample its smell.

One sniff and that was enough to bring back those memories of recent nights. He remembered this odor. It was the same one from the docks. And it was the same from the stains he cleaned off his chopper after the incident at the mall. No doubt about it. It was blood. That _thing's_ blood. And there was a lot of it. That thing was here and it had gained weight.

"What is it?" asked Jill as she walked up next to him.

"You were right," Han replied, "_it_ is here."

Jill knew immediately what those words meant. Her grip on her rifle tightened slightly.

"But, something's wrong," continued Han.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like that thing got bigger since the last time we saw it."

"You told me it gets bigger every time you see it."

"Yeah, but…" he paused, looking up towards the wrecked walls in the hallway. He didn't want to continue what he was about to say which was to say that the creature might now be too big to handle on their own. "Never mind," he said, "let's just keep moving."

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Back in the laboratory.

Red X was jumping backwards to avoid the large hulking arms of the one-eyed gorilla that was trying to beat him to a pulp. The one-eyed creature slammed its arms down to where Red X was standing at the time but by the time its fists have impacted the floor/tables the agile thief's reflexes would have already gotten him away from danger.

"You're getting warmer, big guy," he said mockingly.

Red X jumped back from the top of tables to get a high ground advantage of his opponent. He waited for the right moment to strike. It came when the creature brought down his arm at him from directly above. Red X watched the arm and made sure his timing was perfect. At the right moment, Red X leapt straight up into the air over the creature as the arm came down at the table breaking it into splinters. Red X retaliated quickly slapping an x-taser onto the creature's head as he landed on it and quickly kicked off and jumped up into the air as the x-taser delivered a shock that knocked the creature to its knees.

Red X watched as his opponent went down. That distracted him for a moment and he did not realize the bat-like creature coming towards him in the air until it let out a high-pitched squeal. Red X saw it just in time to go into a defensive position with his body leaning forward and his arms crossed in front of his abdomen to protect his internal organs.

The creature impacted him in the air but this did little to damage Red X as he kept himself flexible enough to absorb the blow. Red X actually managed to grab onto the bat-like creature's wide shoulders and hang from them. He was face to face with the bat creature.

"Missed me," he said to the creature which only growled in response.

Red X delivered a quick elbow to the creature's face to stun it for just a second and then quickly flipped on top of its back. That was when Red X kicked with as much strength as he could muster in order to send the creature crashing down into the wall creating a web of cracks as it did. Red x flipped in the air and landed softly on one of the tables.

He allowed himself to relax for only a second before he heard the growl of the approaching dog-like creature. He turned his head to look back and saw the creature there coming at him. A quick thought. He grabbed a nearby computer monitor that was still on and yanked it out of its foundations and wiring.

"Fetch boy," said Red X as he turned around and threw the monitor at the dog creature in a flash. The computer monitor exploded into pieces upon impact on the dog creature's face and it knocked the creature back a considerable distance.

Again, he allowed himself to relax. That moment was also used reflect a bit. These things were definitely of the same ilk as that thing that's been bothering him for the past few nights. But there was definitely something different. For some reason, he found these things to be particularly easy. Easy in terms of the difficulty he was going through in fighting them back. The real Kapre, which has given him hell over last few nights, was way above the level of these other Halloween rejects.

One-on-one, they would be no problem. It was the fact that e was facing three of them at a time that was giving him problems. He couldn't concentrate on more than one at a time so he had to juggle. Knock one down, move to the next, and so on.

To his side, he heard a soft rumbling noise. He turned to see that gorilla thing suddenly lift one of the tables off its foundation and over its head with its two huge arms while holding a couple of computer monitors with its two smaller arms. Red X greeted the sight with a mix of bored frustration and annoyed anxiety. It was bad enough that these things weren't giving him a challenge, what was worse that he was acutely aware that he had little to no time to hang around this place.

"Back for more huh, big guy?" he said.

The one-eyed creature first threw the two computer monitors at Red X with its small arms. Red x was easily able to knock them aside. The creature then threw the huge table at Red X who was ready for it. Red X charged xenothium energy in his gauntlets and thrust both his hands forward into the airborne table. The sudden pulse of xenothium energy was enough to completely disintegrate the table into smithereens.

The one-eyed creature spent a moment in confusion as it watched the table blow up in its face. Red X took that moment to run up to the creature , jump up, and deliver a swift yet very powerful spin kick to the creature's solitary eye. The creature stumbled back with its hands coving its face. F it had a mouth it would be screaming right now.

Red x landed back on one of the tables again and was expecting another one of those creatures to attack him. He was right when heard a shriek and looked up. The bat creature was coming at him again. He readied himself for a counter attack when all of a sudden…

"Get down!" he heard somebody scream behind him.

Red X knew instinctively that when somebody yells out 'get down' the safest bet was to do it regardless of who was yelling it. So, no more than two milliseconds after the message registered in his mind, Red X suddenly dropped down to the floor by spreading out his feet and bending forward supporting his torso with a palm on the floor.

Just in time as a storm of bullets came flying out of the darkness pelting the bat creature full of holes. Red X looked up to see the creature being turned to Swiss cheese he looked over his shoulder to see where the firing was coming form. He saw two people there standing with their guns drawn and fingers squeezing the triggers.

He couldn't make out their faces so close to the muzzle flashes but he instantly recognized their uniforms. They're cops. Usually, Red X would bolt at the first sign of the law for obvious reasons. He felt no such inclinations at the moment. He couldn't explain why then but he would later figure out that it was because he didn't want a repeat of history. He knew what was lurking somewhere in this facility and he knew what happened the last time a cop came up to that thing without knowing what he was getting into. He was willing to bet that these two would share that ignorance.

The bullets didn't seem to end. The bat creature was extremely resilient. Han and Jill ended up using up their entire magazines, all 200 rounds of ammo. When their guns went silent, the muzzles were smoking. The bat creature fell onto one of the tables and knocked over a few pieces of equipment as it did. Red X stood straight back up and stared at the creature's fallen form. His imposing figure startled Han and Jill for a moment before they quickly decided to reload their G36K's.

Red X watched as the bat creature squeaked and squealed its last breaths. It tried to raise its wings and red X could see that the membrane was completely ruined. It twitched and spat out rust-colored blood before its body fell completely still. That was it.

Red X coldly turned his sight away from the creature and towards the two cops that were now in his company. Both Han and Jill now turned their guns towards him. Red X didn't so much as flinch at the gesture. He was used to having guns pointed at him and very much used to dodging bullets. If push comes to shove, he could easily take these two down.

"Hands above your head!" ordered Jill. Again, no response from the crimson thief.

Jill tightened her grip. Han on the other hand seemed to relax a bit. Han eventually lowered his gun. It seemed that he was somehow convinced that Red X was not there to harm them and didn't have any intention of doing so. Besides, after al that he's heard about Red X, he doubted an order like Jill's would have any effect on him.

"Jill, I don't think that's gonna work," said Han.

Jill ignored him. "I said hands above your head!"

Red X responded with nothing but silence. These two were here on a mission, he could tell. Whether that involved him or not was the debatable question. However, he felt like he's seen that man before somewhere. And he had heard that woman's voice before as well. It didn't take long for his mind to run through his memories to pick out where he knew them from.

That man, he was that same man from the docks the other night when that other cop…

And that woman. It was her voice he heard on the rooftop of the mall the night he and Tara…

Under the mask, nick went a little wide-eyed at the realization. He remembered something an English teacher he had while they were discussing fate as part of literature and how some people seemed to be always have their fate intertwined with others. It's like they were connected by a long piece of string that no one could see or touch. Nick was never one for the mystical but he couldn't deny the almost unbelievable coincidence things were turning up in.

Nis tr4ain of thoughts was interrupted when something caught his eye. Behind the two cops something moved, something big, something with four legs and sharp teeth. The dog creature had snuck up on them while they were preoccupied with him. He could tell that the creature was about to strike at the woman. His mind briefly flashed back to those thoughts about destiny and fate. How some people seem to share it and how trends appear through time. His mind flashed back to that night at the docks and…

He didn't think, didn't even feel his own body move on its own. But in a flash, Red X was off the table and rushing down the floor towards Jill. Jill caught the sudden movement and mistakenly assumed it was an offensive movement. And her hand was already squeezing the trigger of her gun.

A few bullets managed to escape the barrel but they were poorly aimed. Red X moved almost automatically to one side and the bullets whizzed past him inches from his face. He reached Jill's side just as the creature was about to pounce. Red X quickly shoved Jill aside with one arm and placed the other in front of his body to try and block the inevitable.

It didn't help much when the dog creature pounced and missed its intended target and got Red X instead. Red X could feel all 300 pounds of the creature push him back onto the floor and sliding towards one of the tables hard. Red X let out a sharp groan when his back impacted the tables lower half. The dog creature tried to take a bite out of him but Red X managed to be able to hold off its nose back whit his hands. The creature's front paws were proving problematic as they constantly tried to swipe at him. Red X was constantly moving his head from side to side trying to avoid the sharp claws.

Jill was not exactly knocked down. She was simply forced aside and staggered a bit before she quickly regained her footing and finally noticed what had happened. Han reacted in surprise and for a second didn't know what to do. He eventually made the decision to aim his gun at the creature that was pinning down the Red X. However with the two of them moving around so much and the limited lighting, Han had trouble aiming.

Not that it mattered since Han was quickly distracted by a more pressing threat to his side. Han heard a soft growling noise and turned to see the large, four-armed, ape-like creature towering above him. Han quickly changed his aim and managed to get a short burst out into the creature's stomach before the creature slapped him into the air and sliding across the floor afterwards.

As Han tumbled from the monster's slap, Jill was just getting a handle on the situation. She decided to prioritize the ape-like creature which was coming towards her with its arms wide open. In one swift movement, Jill aimed her carbine up at the creature's head and let out a long burst of bullets which sprayed into the creature's eyes.

The effect was instantaneous. The bullets managed to pierce he soft flesh of the eye and it exploded in a blur of rust-colored blood. The creature, though it didn't have a mouth, was able to let out a low audible scream from its nostrils. It flailed its arms around in agony.

Jill knew this was a prime opportunity to finish this creature off. She rushed in and even hopped onto one of the tabled to get a higher ground. Jill leapt into the air towards the blind creature and shot out her left hand. With her left hand she grasped the top of the creature's head and swung her body around to face in the same direction of the creature then dropped her body down to plant her feet onto the creature's back, essentially riding the creature like it was a surfboard.

While hanging onto the creature's head with her left hand, she gripped her carbine with her free right hand, aimed it point back at the creature's back, and unleashed a firestorm of bullets. She must've sprayed fifty rounds of ammo into the creature's back before finally stopping and then she kicked off the creature, flipped in the middle of th air and landed on a crouch, her gun still aimed and ready.

She watched the creature stumble a bit and stagger from one side then the other. Eventually, its large mass fell onto its knees and then face first onto the floor, completely silent. Jill eventually got up from her crouched position and moved towards the creature to check. She poked at the creature with the barrel of her rifle. It didn't respond. Jill knew it was over.

She looked up and saw Han just getting up off the floor and brushing himself off. She nodded towards him as if to confirm if he was ok. He nodded back to tell her that he was. Both officers now turned their sights and their guns towards the direction of the Red X.

Red X was hardly struggling against the dog creature. It was easy enough to avoid getting his face bitten off, but what was annoying was that he couldn't find an opening to get out. He hatched a plan suddenly when he remembered the table he was pinned against.

Red X suddenly pushed off the dog creature's nose, which up to that point he was holding at bay, and quickly pushed off the table with his hands and slid right under the creature while it tried to take a large bit off his face. Red x cleared the creature and kicked back up to a standing position and quickly turned to face the creature which turned to face Red X equally fast.

The dog creature wasted no time in pouncing but Red X was more than ready for it. He materialized a large x-blade on one wrist and made it spin like a buzz saw. As the creature was about to get him, the master thief shifted to one side, spun around, and slashed downwards with his buzz saw x-blade. The creature landed on all four legs and stood its ground. For a moment there was nothing but silence. Red X was standing tall and still while Jill and Han could only watch in suspense.

Suddenly the creature's head started to lower its glance. It angled lowered and lower until it fell right off revealing a clean cut right through the neck that was spurting out blood. The creature's head rolled as the rest of its body fell limply onto its side. The head rolled all the way to Han's feet by chance.

Han took one step back but soon got a bit curios and leaned downwards to inspect the severed dog head. For a second nothing happened. Then the creature's head moved its eyes and let out a growl. Han was taken aback and quickly aimed in carbine at the severed head and pelted the thing with around 20 rounds of ammo. Afterwards, the head twitched a bit before completely becoming still.

"I think you got it," said Red X with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Jill reacted by immediately aiming her gun at the master thief. As with before, Red X was not the least bit intimidated by the gesture. "Like I said last time," said Jill, "hands in the air!"

"Lady, I don't put my hands up for the Titans, what makes you think I'll do it for you, even if you are from the JCPD's Cobra air unit."

Jill seemed surprised at that. "How the heck did you know that?"

"I do my homework."

"Nevertheless, you are one of the most wanted criminals in Jump City and therefore as an officer of the law I order you to surrender immediately."

Red X sighed exasperatingly. Jill just kept her aim.

Han was getting agitated by the situation. "Sparrow, that's enough," he ordered. "It's obvious that it's useless to try and arrest him here with just the two of us."

Jill looked towards Han and then back at Red X who was stoic was ever. She hesitated in dropping her guard. This was the Red X after all. Wasn't he the same thief that stole some of the most valuable treasures in the city? Wasn't he the same thief that has been able to outwit the cops and even the Titans, on a regular basis?

"I have no intention of harming you," declared Red X in a matter-of-fact tone.

Jill hesitated again at letting her guard down but eventually she slowly lowered her gun. This was followed by a slightly awkward moment of silence.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Red X flat out.

"I could ask the same thing about you," replied Han.

"Believe me when I say that is wasn't my choice to be here. There are places I would rather be right now."

"But why are you here."

"Because someone decided that they were higher up in the food chain than everyone else."

Han and Jill looked confusedly at each other for a moment.

"That's not the point though," continued Red X. "The point is, the reason I'm here is relatively sound. You guys however…"

"We came here of our own free will," said Jill.

"That was a mistake. A very bad mistake. You have to leave now!"

"We can't. We're on an investigative assignment here. We have to get to the bottom of th--"

"If you wanna wake up to see tomorrow, you'll leave, now!" Red X turned away and began to head for the exit.

"Hold on!" called Han, "You can't just say that we have to leave. You have to give us a reason or we'll just assume--"

Red X turned with an icy stare. "Do you want to end up like your friend from the docks the other night!?"

Han was taken aback by that. Jill went wide-eye and nearly dropped her gun. Could he…be talking about Derek? Han's mind flashed instantly back to that scene where he cradled his friend crippled body as he called for help in the rain. Jill remembered that call from Han and the visit to the hospital. He knew. Red X knew about it. As if…

"You…were there?" asked Han.

Red X turned to them and said to them in a deep authoritative tone: "Listen. You don't get what's going on here. I do. This is a game. A sadistic, twisted game someone decided to play with me without asking me. I never asked to be a part of this and I sure as hell didn't ask for anyone else to be a part of this. I'm sure both of you have seen what that _thing_ can do. It was stupid of you to come here whether you know it or not. Now leave this place before--"

"What is going on here!?" suddenly yelled out Jill raising her gun again.

"What?"

"You said you're involved in this. Tell me what you know, now!"

"Look lady, this isn't really--"

"Why the hell did my _brother_ have to get hurt!?"

Red X hesitated in responding. "…Brother?" Thoughts about fate and destiny were swinging by his head again.

Suddenly the ground beneath their feet shook. It knocked Jill off-balance due to her rigid stance. Han stumbled a bit himself but Red X managed to keep his footing easily enough. The short quake was followed by a long reverberating roar that echoed through the walls.

All three of them stopped to pay attention to the sound. Han and Jill had no idea what that was but Red X had a pretty good idea himself. He knew what it was and he didn't like it.

"What the hell was that?" asked Han.

Red X was sure that fate was not quite through playing with him yet.

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Author's note: You have absolutely no idea how freakin' busy I was with schoolwork these last few weeks. The next chapter will be the last, plus a short epilogue as usual. I'll try to squeeze that into my schedule. In the meantime Pls. R&R. I'm glad to see some of my old readers are sending me feedback again.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: whatever it says in the next chapter.

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At the hospital.

A young nurse was attending to Derek Kavanagh as he lied on the hospital bed with a half a dozen of wires sticking out of his hospital gown. Thos wires were plugged into monitors that were attached to the wall right next to the bed. The young nurse took a long observing glance at the monitors.

Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure. All of them were below normal but that was to be expected from a guy in a coma. Actually, by comparison, the readings were pretty good for a guy in a coma. Also they were pretty good as compared to when she looked at the readings yesterday and the day before and much better than the day this guy was actually administered.

He was recovering. Good news.

"How is he?" asked someone behind her.

The young nurse looked behind her to spot a familiar face. A tall man in a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck to indicate his occupation approached her. Dressed simply, he wore a light blue shirt, dark jeans and sneakers under his coat. He had the mild complexion of a man in his early thirties behind a large pair of round-rimmed glasses topped by neatly trimmed black hair.

"Dr. Isaacs. Good morning," she greeted him then turned back to the monitor. "He's doing fine. Vitals are steadily increasing. At this rate he might be conscious in a day or two."

"That's fantastic," said Dr. Isaacs. "From how he came in here a few nights ago, I never would have thought he'd recover this quickly."

"Well he's built tough. I heard he's from police's SWAT team."

"Guess that would help a bit."

Dr. Isaacs moved to the monitors to see for himself to see the improvement. It was a reassuring increase in the numbers. The young nurse was right. Dr. Isaacs expected this man to wake up within the week. That wasn't only good news for him. It was good news for the two people he saw the same night Derek was brought to his feet.

It was an eventless night for him thus far. Dr. Isaacs simply sat in his office for hours looking trough some unfinished paperwork and passing the time trying to solve Sudoku book his daughter had given him. All of a sudden the head nurse from the front desk buzzed him on his intercom and called him for an emergency case.

He was in the operating room in the span of a minute. He was in an operating gown, face mask, and cap the very next minute. Just in time for the body of Derek Kavanagh to arrive. When Derek arrived he was a train wreck. Dr. Isaacs couldn't remember a patient he ever treated in the past that even came close to this guy's condition. Initially he thought he couldn't do it, but he dove into the job anyway.

The gashes were the worst. It looked like he was assaulted by a digger. He had the worst time sewing those up in a hurry while keeping him breathing and pumping him with donor's blood. When Derek went into Cardiac arrest, Dr. Isaacs wasn't all that surprised but he dreaded it all the same. It took three massive shocks from the defibrillator to bring him back from that.

The operation was bad enough but the one experience he wanted to forget from that night came from the man's sister who he met outside the operating room after he had stabilized Derek. The expression on her face was something he'll never forget, those looks of sheer desperation of hope and prayer that the person precious to you would somehow pull through. As a doctor, Dean Isaacs has experienced this many times but it wasn't one of those things you get used to. You never want to see those expressions.

Even after that he knew it wasn't over. They had found out that Derek's spine and hips were severely injured. He would have to be confined to a wheelchair for at least half-a-year. Then there was the physical therapy to follow. Well, he told himself, that's still better than what could've happened.

"You'll keep tabs on him for me, won't you?" he said to the young nurse.

"Of course doctor," replied the nurse with a caring smile.

He was suddenly distracted by a loud thunder clap that came from outside. The young nurse nearly jumped from where she stood. Dr. Isaacs moved to the window and moved the curtain aside. The window was almost impossible to see through as the water blanketed it from the outside. The rain was pouring hard and beating on the glass like a tribal drum.

"I never would've expected this kind of weather this time of the year," he said.

"Yeah, me neither," said the young nurse. "Not even the weather report saw this coming. Of course, we don't have to worry doctor. This place has state-of-the-art surge protectors and backup generators."

"Now, now don't be so pessimistic there," he said as he turned around with a humored grin.

The burse blushed a bit. "Sorry."

"But I guess it's a bit reassuring to know anyway. Please continue to do a good job. I'll be going my rounds for now,"

"Yes doctor."

Dr. Isaacs gave one last nod to the young nurse and left the room. He walked down the busy hallway in a memorized path, taking his time moving in and out of rooms checking in on patients and seeing how they were doing. None of his other patients were even close to the condition that Derek was in and for that he was thankful, and because of that Derek was holding his attention more than others. Eventually, he finished his rounds and headed to his office somewhere on the fifth floor. In front of the door was an engraved plate that read "Isaacs, Dean R. PhD" to identify it as his office. He marched right in after opening the door.

The Office was hardly anything impressive. Unlike his fellow doctors who do their best to hang every diploma they have on the wall, and fill all the empty spaces with art they themselves couldn't interpret but felt make them look more intellectual, Dr. Isaacs' office was almost bare, although he did keep his framed diplomas and certificates in his desk drawer in case a customer asked to see his credentials.

The only redeeming qualities the room had in terms of design was that he had at least good taste in furniture which took the form of two very ornate chairs which he used to seat his visitors. He actually bought those at a garage sale and he only did that because the chairs that came with the office, both of them, were soiled by a boy suffering strange bowel movements. No amount detergent could remove that stink so he simply decided to throw the chairs away and get cheapest replacements he could find.

Other than the two chairs, the only other thing that he personally brought to the office was a single picture that stood at his desk next to his phone. It was a picture of his daughter taken a couple of years ago, standing in her school uniform, in front of her school, grasping he school bag, looking nervous and embarrassed. The picture was taken during her first day in high school.

That reminded him. He picked up the phone and pressed a speed dial.

Two rings later: "Hello? Dad?"

"Hey there sweetie," he replied back to her, still a little surprised at how soon she started calling him 'dad' as opposed to his first name. "I'm just checking up on you."

"I've kept out of trouble, like you always tell me."

"Now, now, don't assume that just because I'm checking means you are or were in trouble."

"Then, what do you wanna know?"

"You're not at home, right?"

"Yeah. I'm still over at Nick's place."

"You stayed over at your boyfriend's place last night?"

"Yeah."

He was silent for a period of time.

"Oh, c'mon Dad! Nothing happened!" she said and he knew enough to believe her.

"Alright, If you say so, hun. But I wanna ask when are you gonna get home?"

"Can't say. It's raining cats and dogs outside. I'm kinda stuck here at the moment."

"Oh Yeah, right," Dr. Isaacs turned in his seat and reached a hand towards the window behind him. He pulled down a metal strip of the blinds which were closed to get a peak outside. It was still raining hard as ever and his window was almost completely blurred from all the water running down.

"Well, since you're stuck there are you gonna be alright?" he pressed.

"Don't worry I'm in good company."

"You're boyfriend?"

"Uh, no. He has to be somewhere at the moment but--"

"Don't worry, Dr. Isaacs," said new woman's voice, "She's in good hands. I promise you I'll take care of her as I would my own son. Now please don't be so worried. I give you my word. Heck, I'm practically her in-law already."

Somewhere in the background, Dr. Isaacs could hear his daughter yell out "Mrs. Davenport!" in a shocked and rather embarrassed tone. A little scuffling was heard and soon his daughter's voice was on the phone again.

"Well, I really have to go now, Dad. I'll just see you later, ok?"

"Uh…sure thing dear. See you later."

The call ended there. For a moment Dr. Isaacs looked at the phone as if it where some kind of alien artifact. Eventually he just shrugged it off and set it back down onto the receiver and sat back. He knew his daughter enough that she could take care of herself.

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At the Davenport's place.

Tara pocketed her cell phone and looked towards Tomoyo with blushing face. "You didn't have to say those things, you know?"

Tomoyo flashed back a playful smile. "Well he was cutting into our game time."

The two were seated on the couch in the living room. In front of them was a fairly big Plasma TV and the screen showed a _Halo 3_ game on pause waiting for its two players to get back into play.

"Yeah, but still, Mrs. Davenport…'in-law'?" Tara blushed a little more

"Oh, forget about it and let's just continue with our game."

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Somewhere below the surface of the island

"We have to leave, now!" exclaimed Red X to the two officers.

Han went over to Jill and helped her up after she fell on her butt. She didn't look at him but continuously kept her eye on Red X. The master thief noticed but ignored it. She's angry, so what? Nothing he could do. Red X moved closer to the two.

"Show me where you came in from," he said. "There isn't much time before--"

The barrel of Jill's rifle pressed against his chest. Han stepped back with a surprised look on his face. Red X was ever so stoic and Jill had murder in her eyes. That was followed by a long and tense pause between the three occupants of the large room.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell what's going on and who's behind this. Now answer my question. Now!"

Red X briefly considered telling her everything. About the Kapre and its origins. About Parasol and their clandestine operations. About how her brother was just plain old unlucky at being in the wrong place at the wrong time. All to shut her up and get them moving.

But somewhere along those lines of thought he realized something. She would go after them, after Parasol. How the heck could she possibly stand up to an entire corporation, one that is bigger than what it presents itself to the public and with questionable agendas? She wouldn't last a day. They'll probably ruin her and her brother. He couldn't allow that. This was his fight. Not Nick but Red X. Even Nick was simply a spectator (an unlucky one at that) in a sense. Parasol's target is the Red X. As long as it's his battle to fight no one else has to be involved. And most importantly…

"Answer me, dammit!" Jill pressed the barrel harder on his chest.

"Is your brother alive?" he asked.

The question was so blunt and so unexpected that Jill had to step back a bit but still kept her gun poised. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"Everything. Is your brother alive?" he asked again.

Jill hesitated for a moment before answering "Yes, he is."

"Then there's no way I'm telling you who is behind this whole mess."

"Why the hell--"

"Because unlike you, the _Red X _has nothing worth risking by going for revenge."

Nick referred not to himself but the Red X as another person entirely. In all likelihood Parasol still has no idea what his true identity is and he knows that. Had they known they would've come after him directly instead waiting for the Red X to show up every night. The Red X was always the lone thief and depended on no one.

Jill wanted to say something back to him but in the instant she thought of a response she realized he was right. Slowly, Jill lowered her gun. She seemed to have been able to get what the Red X was saying to her. Still, that didn't mean she liked it.

On the side, Han got exactly what the Red X was trying to imply. He thought of what would've happened if he said something like that. He was sort of ashamed he didn't. Jill and Derek were his closest friends and most trusted colleagues. He didn't want anything else to risk their well-being.

Jill's pursuit of revenge hadn't been sitting well with him from the start but he went along with it feeling that he had no other choice. Now, the Red X has shown them both otherwise. Maybe, he thought, he was looking for his on revenge. Maybe he was blaming himself a bit for his failure to protect Derek that night at the docks.

"This is not you're fight," said Red X in a calm but firm tone, as if ordering the two cops to believe him. "It never was."

He let that message sink in to the both of them.

"Alright, now tell me where you guys came in from."

Both hesitated to answer. Han was the first to speak.

"We landed on a small clearing on the surface of the island," he said. "We managed to find a service hatch which we used to climb down her and look around."

"Is that hatch still available?"

"Yeah."

Just then another loud moan echoed across the facility accompanied by a short quake. All three were momentarily rocked but at least this time no body fell off-balance.

"What was that?" asked Jill.

"It's that _creature_ again," he replied. "We don't have a lot of time! We have to go before that thing blows up!"

Both Han and Jill did a double take towards Red X. "What?!"

"When it blows, it'll take this whole island with it. Let's move it already!"

Han looked towards Jill. They seemed to have a mutual understanding and nodded to each other. Han then looked towards Red X and gave him a nod. "Alright, we'll lead the way back. Just follow closely."

One last echoing moan and a quake. As soon as it passed, the group of three began to rush out the doors. Han and Jill went first, Red X followed. But as he was leaving the room he noticed one of the CPU had its casing damaged. He could easily see the insides. Without thinking much he quickly reached and swiped the CPU's hard disk. He then hid the hard disk away in the large pocket on his back under his cape.

They ran down the hallway with Han in the lead, Red X and Jill trailing. As Red X expected the hallways were long and like a maze. He hated that. He's had enough of mazes today. As they ran, Jill looked towards Red X again. He may not want to tell her who is behind this, as a means to protect her and her brother, but she didn't want to leave this place without at least some answers.

"Hey, if you're not gonna tell us who's behind this," she started he inquiry, "then at least tell us _what_ exactly that thing is."

Red X decided he should at least give her this much. "It's a bioengineered weapon. It was designed to be the ultimate anti-personnel weapon which can operate independently but within control. Basically, somebody decided to play Frankenstein only they made something much worse."

"What do you have to do with this? Did you help build that thing?"

"Why would I wanna build something that wants to freakin' eat me?! But, yeah, if you look at it in a way, I did kinda help create it…not that I wanted to."

"How is that?"

"The people behind this creature created it with me as a testbed in mind. Basically, If it can kill me then it's passed the test."

"But what about this thing about to explode? How does that work?"

"There was a reason they wanted to use me as a testbed. They were experimenting splicing xenothium with animal tissue. That's the reason why it could heal itself and transform into different levels of evolution."

"So that way that thing kept changing."

"But now all that xenothium is out of control and is overloading its body. It's only a matter of time before the body can't hold all that power in anymore."

"I'm guessing you had something to do with that?" asked Han.

Red X gave out a slight chuckle. "Let's just say, it _didin't_ pass the test."

"You're something else aren't you?"

"Believe it."

They were nearly home free. They could all see the steam room up ahead and Red X spotted the open door the two left behind. He wondered how he could've missed that on his way out of the steam room. Must've been the steam clouds covering it.

"There's our exit!" exclaimed Han.

There was another quake, but this time it was much stronger and it felt much closer. The three had to skid to a halt and did their best to keep their footing. It became even more difficult when the floor started cracking right in front of them. They slowly took steps back as the cracks on the floor spread into a huge web. Then the rumbling and the cracking abruptly stopped.

There was an awkward and nerve-wracking silence that followed.

"This won't end well," said Red X to himself.

A second after he said that the spot on the floor where the cracks started suddenly exploded upwards as something huge penetrated it from below. Red X, Jill and Han were all thrown backwards by the sudden blast of debris. They all fell on their backs and struggled to get back up quickly. Red X was the first to do so, having done so several times in the past.

He got a good look at what it was that broke through the floor. It caused his breath to catch in his throat for a second.

A huge, fleshy claw, covered in dark leathery skin with open sores in some areas, had broken straight through the floor and its huge claws were embedded in the ceiling above. Red X didn't have to guess where this limb was from. Just then, Jill and Han were getting their first glimpse of the claw. They both went wide-eyed. Jill reacted almost instinctively, taking her gun out and firing at the giant limb.

The bullets didn't have a hard time hitting such a large target. Around fifteen round from the guns large dual-drum magazine pelted the defenseless limb. There was loud roar that followed and a shaking of the floor.

The huge claws suddenly dislodged themselves from the ceiling and the whole limb pulled itself down back through the floor. But as the fleshy limb reeled itself back down it pulled more of the floor with it. The floor was already weakened from before and all the integrity in its structure failed completely.

Red X and the other suddenly found themselves being chased down by a hole that was growing bigger and bigger. Jill and Han tried to get back up their feet in time but failed to do so. The hole reached Jill first and she quickly fell through the hole. Han shouted out her name in alarm and quickly reached out for her hand and managed t grab it. But in his haste to save her he forgot he wasn't exactly anchored to anything himself.

They both started to fall through and red X had to think quickly or else they would most likely have a short trip down with a really bad ending. He ran forward and jumped ahead of the hole as the floor underneath him also disappeared. With one hand he shot a grappling line towards Han which hooked onto his tactical vest. With the other hand he shot another grappling tine up towards the ceiling. They must've fell a good distance before Red X felt the line go taut and their fall stop abruptly.

So that's how it was: Red X was held to the ceiling by one grappling line while another was holding up Han who was holding onto Jill who was dangling by her wrist. Below them, was at least a forty foot drop to what Red X saw to be some metal platforms that were hanging from the floor that just collapsed (the part underneath the floor that collapsed was gone but the rest of the interlocked platform walkways were still there). Below that was over a hundred foot drop to rock bottom where all three saw something that chilled them down to the bone.

In between whirring turbines and large transformers that occupied mainly the side of the huge power generator room, the floor in the center of the vast chamber was mainly occupied by what Red X could only assume was the Kapre.

Its gigantic bulbous body was pulsing like a giant organ. Sparks of red energy flared up from the creature like a Tesla coil. It had grown a bit since the last Red X saw it and he noticed this. This thing could fill out a whole basketball court if it wanted to. It's limbs, or at least the majority of it seemed to have retreated under its fleshy mass. Red X could only see the claw that ripped the floor from under them and he was amazed at how long it could extend now. But he wondered where the head was. It was missing.

Just as that thought came and went, the creature's head came out of its hiding place on the surface of the creature's skin. The head was bigger and was slightly more deformed than the last time. The creature's large deformed eye started up at the three that were dangling from above. It spied Han and Jill then moved its sights up to Red X. Red X stared back with a caution stare.

"The heck are you staring at, ugly?" he asked though too softly to be heard by anyone but himself.

The creature drooled profusely and its large deformed eye seemed to sparkle while the other one blinked repeatedly. It's long tongue slid out of its mouth and licked its teeth.

It was still hungry.

It slowly raised it large arm up as if it were ready to throw something. Red X went wide-eyed. He knew what was coming and he knew he had to act fast. Below him Han and Jill were also predicting a foul outcome of things. They observed the creature raise its claw then looked up at Red x who was now looking down at them.

"The platforms!" he simply exclaimed.

Red X then began swing himself forward putting more swing on Han and Jill who were hanging on for dear life. Jill seemed a little confused. She looked down and saw the crisscrossing maintenance platforms hanging from the ceiling from metal poles. Han on the other hand knew exactly what Red X was getting at.

"Jill, when I say now, let go of my hand," he said.

"What? Why?"

"Get to the platform. We'll be sitting ducks if we aty like this! Roll as you land, alright?"

"…Right!"

The creature was getting ready to thrust its giant claw again. Almost no time left, thought Red X. During the swing back Red X whipped the line attached to Han. The pilot looked behind him to check the distance from the platforms. It wasn't too far down and they won't get injured from the fall.

Red X detached the grappling line from Han's vest and the two police officers fell towards the platforms. They both had training in this kind of thing. Like Han said, they were taught to roll upon touching the ground to reduce the impact.

Jill hit first and rolled twice before ending up on her back. Han followed suit. He rolled one-and-a-half times and ended up sliding on his stomach. Both were quickly up on their feet with their weapons ready again. Red X was still swinging up there and they noticed that. Red X was just preparing to detach himself from the grappling line when the creature's swung towards him.

Red X knew there was no avoiding it. He curled himself into a ball and let the grappling line loosen up. He had to be able to absorb the hit. The large claw came from the side and knocked Red X of the line and towards the wall. The master thief slammed hard into the wall, bounced back out and fell onto the maintenance platforms with a loud bang on the metal.

Red X groaned. The creature roared. Han and Jill were observing the situation and knew that they needed to help or the Red X would not last too long against that thing. They aimed their G36K carbine rifles at the bulk of the creature and started firing.

Firing into the bulbous body of the creature had little to no effect. The creature didn't even seem to feel the hits. Han stopped firing then told Jill to stop as well. They needed a new strategy. Below the creature was raising its claw again and seemed to be aiming it at Red X. The master thief was still on his knees groaning after having the wind knocked out of him. He knew he'll be alright in a minute but looking down he also knew it would be a minute too late.

As the creature was about launch its claw again. Han redirected his and Jill's fire.

"Aim for that thing's head!" he said.

"Got it!" replied Jill.

They took aim and fired short controlled bursts of lead. The bullets penetrated the flesh in the throat and cheek area. That time, it felt it. The creature wailed from the sudden pain it felt and when it did throw its claw it was off-target by at least ten yards, hitting an unoccupied part of the platform instead. However, that didn't mean Red X was not in trouble.

As the creature pulled its claw back it took some of the platform with it and the surrounding metal sort of collapsed by itself. Red X found the platform he was on suddenly tilting downwards and him sliding downwards towards where the platform has gone towards what is almost certain to be a really nasty fall. Thinking quickly, Red X extended an x-bladed from one wrist and stuck it onto the platform to prevent his slide downwards.

On the other side of the room, Jill and Han were still taking shots at the creature's head and neck. The creature wailed endlessly at the pelting of lead it was getting. It swung its arm in the direction of Han and Jill but because it wasn't looking it missed the platform entirely and instead the claw slammed right into one of the large turbines. Sparks flew and the room quaked from the impact.

Red X nearly lost his hold on the platform as several of the transformers near the turbine started to blow up spontaneously. Jill and Han stumbled struggling with the quaking platforms they were standing on. As for the creature, it wailed loudly as its claw burned in the body of the shattered turbine where its claw had dug into. It also wailed form the thousands of volts of electricity that was suddenly being fed into its body.

Red X saw this and noticed that the creature started to inflate at an alarming rate. Han and Jill noticed as well.

"This can't be a good thing," said Han.

"A giant, overgrowing monster never is," said Jill.

The creature pulled its claw free of the turbine which blew up in a flare of sparks and flying metal pieces that came towards Han, Jill and Red X. The two cops managed to dive out of the way as debris shredded through the bottom of the platforms they were standing on. Red X wasn't so lucky. The debris that came his way may not have hit him or even came close to him but the damaged it did to the platform caused more of it to drop down.

The debris snapped some of the supporting poles from which the platform was hanging off of. Slowly the platform dropped all the way to the ground and Red X was jolted off the metal platform and fell towards the floor. He rolled upon hitting the floor to prevent injury and actually ended up on his feet.

He shook his head to shake off the slight dizziness he felt form all this tumbling and getting thrown around. It had been a long day so far and he was getting pretty fatigued. He didn't know how longer he could keep all this up without burning out and that was really worrying him by now. Fighting was the farthest thing from his mind now but the way things were it would seem that he didn't have a choice.

As soon as he was standing up straight again, Red X spotted the creature looking down on him with its large deformed eye. It opened it mouth to roar at him and spat out a load of drool Red X's way. The master thief was slobbered completely with the stuff.

"Aww, gross!" he said as he wiped himself off.

The creature raised its claw again and made to drop it down on the master thief. Red X was not one to miss a threat when it was coming. He already thought about how he might dodge it but then the creature became distracted again as more gunfire hailed from above.

Han and Jill were moving across the platforms as they continued to fire on the creature. The creature's turned its sights to them and that left Red X out of its line of sight. Red X saw an opportunity and materialized a fan of x-bombs and threw it at the creature's extended neck. The explosives rocked the creature.

Red X was now going on the offensive as were his two compatriots above him. Red X dashed for the nearest turbine that was next to him and quickly ran up the side to get on top. From there he would have a good vantage point and it was an ideal place to throw stuff from. He reached the top no problem at all. He materialized a fan of x-bombs and prepared to throw them at the creature's vulnerable spots. That's when he noticed something that he should've noticed before: the creature's tail.

The large appendage with its spiked tip swung wildly and suddenly came at Red X. He would've been decapitated had he not quickly bent backwards in the style of a certain movie character. When the tail passed Red X quickly bounced back up to his feet, x-bombs still in hand.

The tail swung wildly still and went up towards the platforms hitting one section and breaking it apart. Fortunately it wasn't where Han and Jill were standing on but it was close and They were all seeing the problem at hand.

"If this keeps up, we won't have anything to stand on in the next minute," said Jill.

"Just keep moving," said Han. "That's all we could do right now."

"What about him?"

Han looked towards the Red X. "I doubt someone like him would need our help."

Red X now focused on a new target. He followed the tail with his sights and noted that the tail, though swinging wildly, followed some kind of pattern. That was all he needed. He carefully held the x-bombs which began to glow bright crimson. At the right moment he shot them all one at a time towards the tail where the spike met the spine. All of the explosive projectiles met their mark and the spike blew right off.

The creature's howls of pain echoed in the small room and nearly rendered all of them deaf. The spike flew in a spray of the creature's rust-colored blood. It flew across the air and landed right on top of one of the transformes which predictably blew up in a hail of sparks as the spike pierced its metal shell.

Red X, Jill and Han had to shield their eyes from the bright flash of light which started a chain reaction of the nearby transformers also exploding, rocking the whole of the room and causing immense pain to the creature which was situated right next to the transformers. The explosions were paving a path directly towards where Red X was standing and someone above noticed this.

"X! Watch out!" shouted Jill in-between explosions.

Red X finally noticed and took decisive action. He reached up a hand and shot a grappling hook towards the platforms. He got a good hook and reeled himself in just as the turbine he was standing on overloaded and blew up into smithereens. Red X hopped up onto the platforms and ran towards the two cops who were now reloading their carbines.

"Forget this!" he said to them. "We're leaving!"

He looked back down at the creature. The creature was now being fed electricity from the electrical equipment around it. It won't be long before that thing finally overloads on energy and turn the island into a volcano.

He turned back to Jill and Han. "Now, grab on to each other."

Red X launched a grappling line towards the hole where they originally fell form and felt the line hook onto the ceiling. Han slung his weapon and reached both hands outward. Red X grabbed one and Jill grabbed onto the other. Red X reeled in the line and pulled all three of their weights up towards the hole in on the floor.

As they were going up, the creature tried to claw at them with its overextended limb. Jill saw it and aimed her carbine with one hand. And began spraying lead at the claw. All the bullets seemed to have hit their mark and the creature was audibly feeling the hits as it reeled its claw back and its targets go out of reach.

As Red x and the others disappear back into the upper floors, the creature's body was undergoing a massive change. It could no longer control its growth and its body was reaching its limit. But in its greatest moment of impending destruction it didn't care. It couldn't care. All the pain it was supposed to be feeling were ignored or numbed. Now, what little intelligence and logic it had in its mind, which slowly disappeared as it evolved, was now reduced to one single thought: consume the Red X.

It was that thought that prompted its last mutation. The creature's neck grew in length many times and the head went flying up into the hole in the floor where its prey disappeared to.

Above, Red X and the others were back on the hallway they started in. It didn't take a second before all of them were rushing towards the door. They were less than twenty feet from it when they all stumbled onto their knees as another quake rocked the floor. They looked behind them to see the creature's head burst up from the floor, looking as ugly as ever but now attached to a long snake like neck.

"…Persistent bastard, aren't you?" Red X mumbled under his breath.

The creature came towards them. Red X quickly jumped to his feet, spun and threw a few x-shurikens that met their mark at the creature's oversized eye. The creature felt the hits but seemed to be largely undeterred. The head with its gaping jaw slowly continued to move towards them. Red X readied to attack again but was cut off when Jill stepped up in front of him with a grenade in her hand. Something she brought for the occasion.

"Hungry?" she said, pulling the pin. "Chew on this then you slimy bastard!"

She threw the grenade straight into the creature's gaping mouth and down its throat. Five seconds later the grenade exploded in the creature's throat. Parts of its neck blew off towards the walls and flames shout out from the creature's moth like dragon's breath. It wailed as the inside of its mouth and throat burned.

"Let's go you two!" exclaimed Han who was already at the door.

Red X and Jill hesitated as they watched the creature writhe in agony and somehow, though rapidly losing its capability to do so, was still managing to try and come at them. At some level, both Red X and Jill could respect and almost fear that kind of single-minded determination. Although on another level, they pitied the creature which was doomed to follow one drive throughout it short life.

It was almost poetic, thought Red X having felt that he had a bond with the creature that went deeper than the xenothium or loathing they had for each other. This thing was the first to give him a true test of his humanity. He felt that all the things he went through ever since the suit was simply there to prepare him for this moment of decision where it was either him or the Kapre. There was no doubt that he liked the fact that victory is his that day but he also felt a sadness, a disappointment at the loss of a purpose.

Jill thought of her brother as she watched the creature struggle with itself. She got her vengeance after all but it felt a bit empty. Did it have to go this far? Her brother didn't die after all, but with all the pain he has gone through and will go through he might just wish he might as well have been killed the other night. Jill doubted that since Derek was stronger than that.

Looking back, she forgot why she obsessed about the creature over this few nights. Perhaps it was revenge or perhaps it was simply guilt from not being able to protect her precious little brother. And now she questioned whether she did the right thing.

No doubt that getting rid of the creature was a good thing in keeping the city safe. But she had no right to turn it into her personal vendetta. She had no right to put her companions at risk. Even risking her own life, even though it was willingly, felt wrong to her.

"It's over," said Red X catching Jill's attention. "Now you can just focus on keeping what you have."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Why do you think I only steal aesthetic stuff? Like jewels, fancy gadget prototypes, and all that stuff. Because in the end of it all…people won't give a rat's ass for stuff like that. _We _define for ourselves what is _precious_, and it those precious things are what we really don't want to lose."

"…Precious things, huh?"

"One thing I've learned, after all this sneaking around and stealing stuff, there are too little "precious" things in the world. People who have them should simply do their best to keep them instead of spending their time fearing they might lose them."

Red X turned and walked towards the door where Han was waving for them to come along. Jill lingered where she stood thought about it for a second longer before deciding to follow suit. Soon all three where through the passage way, up the ladder, and on the surface of the island.

The creature was now alone and reaching its absolute limit. In its last few moments, it did not feel despair or disappointment at the fact that it ultimately failed, nor did it feel any pain at all from what was happening to it. Its mind was gone by then and with it all the sensations that it could ever have felt.

This meant, for once in its life, it didn't felt hungry.

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Outside.

When the Kapre finally went, a good portion of the islands surface exploded into the air. It was like watching an impromptu volcanic explosion that rocked the rest of the island and the sea around it. Debris from the underground facility flew up and rained down onto the surface of the water creating multiple splashes. Other than that, hat was the finality of it all and all that remained was a tall plum of dark smoke that rose from the islands surface.

It was almost beautiful the way the setting sun provided a backdrop.

By then, the rain had stopped and the skies began to clear and welcomed the first rays of the sun even though it was already late in the afternoon by then.

A good four miles out to sea at an altitude of about two hundred feet, Cobra Two's crew and passenger watched the destruction consume the facility. Smaller explosions continued to be heard every now and then as more of the facility got destroyed. Jill and Han looked watched from inside the cockpit. Red X was holding onto the side of the aircraft using the handle bars built onto the side for the crew to get in and out, his cape flapping from the wind generated by the rotor blades.

Under his cape he patted his back pocket just to make sure that the hard disk he took was still there. He needed a trump card for insurance. He decided not to tell his two new acquaintances about it. Like he said before: his fight, not theirs.

Eventually, Han turned the aircraft east and all of them headed towards home.

/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\/X\

Author's Note: Yay! Final Chapter finally done! Read the Epilouge!


	21. Epilouge

Disclaimer: whatever it says in the last chapter.

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Parasol headquarters, Annette Ashford's office.

Sitting at her desk, Ms. Ashford busied herself with sending administrative orders through e-mail on her desktop computer. It was late in the afternoon and she was two hours away from quitting time though she was not eager to call it a day. She felt more at home in this large office than she did in her eighty million dollar penthouse. Maybe it was that seat of power she enjoyed so much.

It had been two days since the incident with the Red X ended. The press raved about the incident of the island's explosion and the possible involvement of meta-humans. Of course, Parasol was never mentioned throughout all this. Ms. Ashford was no fool. She planned ahead for things like this and all those plans came through. She was safe though all those contingency plans did take up a large chunk out of their budget.

She'll have to come up with an excuse for Wall Street about that later.

It was around that time her secretary called through the intercom. "Ma'am, the representatives of GothCorp have arrived for their five o'clock."

She reached for the intercom and pressed the call button. She was about to tell her secretary to send them in when she looked up from her computer, did a double-take, and frowned. After a short silence she said "Tell them to wait."

"Ma'am?"

"I said tell them to wait. Don't bother offering them coffee."

She looked straight ahead, placed her elbows on the table and she rested her chin on her knuckles.

"I prefer you make an appointment."

"You should know I love to make unannounced entrances," said the Red X who stood in the middle of the room with his cape draped over his body, covering most of it from view.

"What do you want?"

"Straight to business?"

"Always."

"Well, first of all, I wanna know how's it been hangin' for you guys."

"It's no ideal situation, thanks to you. Though nothing I can't handle."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that Ms. Ashford."

"There's nothing you can do here. Our deal with you is over. You don't have to worry about us coming after you anymore. The project was a failure and a costly one at that. It's over. Get out of here before I call security."

Red X was silence for a bit.

"You think it's over just because you say it is?" said Red X with a hint of humor.

Ms. Ashford raised an eyebrow. Red X then lifted his arm out from under his cape to show her that he was holding a computer hard disk. Ms. Ashford recognized it in an instant and her eyes narrowed.

"It took me a while to break the encryption code," he said. "I've been checking this out for a while now. There's a lot of interesting data on here which include most of your…'pets'."

Ms. Ashford hesitated in answering back. "…You'll never find anything in there to tie it to me."

"I know that. But did you really think I'll turn this thing in as evidence to the police. No way. That would be a waste of my time, your time, and theirs as well. However I was thinking that maybe LexCorp or Amertek might like to take a look at this stuff."

Ms. Ashford's eyes twitched slightly. Red X noticed and smiled under the mask.

"Aside form he considerable check I might get…Tell me Ms. Ashford, are you good with competition?"

"You wouldn't dare."

Red X tucked the herd disk back under his cape. "I would, just to show you what it means to cross with the likes of me," he said with a more serious tone. "If you think you can play games with me the way you did last week, you ought to be ready to face the consequences if you lose because as you are about to learn, I can hold a grudge for a _very_ long time, Ms. Ashford."

Ms. Ashford did her best to keep her composure throw her brow was obviously straining.

"I won't be doing anything to you or your precious company for the moment so don't worry your butt off just yet. That is simply because I don't believe you're worth my time. I have better things to do than to mess with you. Just make sure you remember that if you ever mess with me again you'll be playing into a game you'll never win."

Red X pulled something else from under his cape. "Consider this a reminder."

He tossed it towards Ms. Ashford and it landed on her desk. She looked down at it and slowly reached to pick it up. It was a wrist tag with the word "KAPRE" written in bold black letters which she recognized immediately. Her eyes lingered on the tag for a moment.

Ms. Ashford looked back up. By then the Red X was gone.

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Author's Note: I am now finished with yet another disaster of a fic. There you have it. Red X's latest adventure over and done with. A deeply felt thanks to all who took their time to read and reviewed this story and gave me some good feedback.

See you guys next time!

Peace out!


End file.
